The Sacrifices Made
by madamsnape78
Summary: In the war against Voldemort, everyone has a role to play. When Hermione discovers her role, how much will she be required to sacrifice to ensure his defeat? HGSS
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I want to give a HUGE thank-you to my beta RenitaLeandra who did so much work on this chapter. I shudder to think how terrible it would have been without all her work._

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Chapter 1

The day of Ron Weasley's funeral was, without a doubt, the longest and most miserable day of Hermione Granger's life; longer, even, than the day he died, which had seemed to stretch on for an eternity. But on this day, when she would look at him for the last time, there was no relief from the misery and depression. From the moment she woke up until the moment she collapsed into a heap at the end of the day, there was nothing but sadness, despair and confusion. Each minute seemed to stretch on for a year.

She sat through the funeral with Harry on one side and Molly and Arthur on the other listening to their cries; Harry's intermittent sniffles, Arthur's silent tears streaming down his face, and Molly's sobs. But she could do nothing but sit and stare at the coffin in front of her, feeling her throat close up every time she tried to get within five feet of it. When she had first seen it, she had immediately become hysterical Runningaway until Harry had finally come to find her minutes before the funeral started. She had seen dead bodies before, her grandmother when she was a young child, Cedric Diggory, Dumbledore and various unfortunate Order members since then. But somehow this was not the same. This was _Ron_.

When the funeral was over, she finally found the courage to actually look at him with Harry at her side. She then wandered away to the far side of the lake, where she wouldn't have to look at the coffin anymore and suddenly found herself completely alone. Arthur had taken Molly back to the Burrow to rest and the remaining Weasleys had followed. Many of the other people present were Ministry officials who had never really known him. There had been some of Ron's friends present but they had all gone inside to cool off from the hot day. Harry, she knew, was somewhere close by waiting for when she would be ready to face someone.

Ron was being buried at Hogwarts, next to Dumbledore, hailed as a hero of the same level as the former Headmaster himself. He had bravely given his life for the cause, allowing Harry the time to escape when it was clear Voldemort had him in his grasp.

It amazed Hermione, when she thought of it, that it had been less than a week since this nightmare had started. A week ago they had been looking for the fourth Horcrux, Helga Hufflepuff's cup. Although it had been more than a year since they had begun their search, the locket was the only item that they had successfully found and destroyed. Since that time they had been chasing down lead after lead looking for the cup. Then one day they had got an anonymous request to meet at an old warehouse in Muggle London. Harry had been convinced it would be something important for their search.

The three had immediately headed there without stopping to think of the consequences. It was a mistake that would cost them dearly. It had been a trap. Not long after arriving at the rendezvous, they had been ambushed by Death Eaters. Although Ron and Hermione escaped, Harry was captured and taken to Voldemort.

Hermione and Ron had immediately gone back to Order Headquarters demanding that they form a rescue party. Complete chaos and mayhem erupted as soon as they had managed to explain what had happened to everyone. Mad Eye was charging about, bellowing orders; Ginny was sobbing; Tonks' appearance was changing every few seconds; and Remus had been in his werewolf state and completely unable to help.

In a relatively short amount of time, considering everyone's state, they had managed to form a rescue party; Hermione, Ron, Kingsley, Tonks and Mad Eye. Ginny had been desperate to go, but Molly had forced her to stay back. Their current intelligence told them that Voldemort and the Death Eaters were headquartered at Riddle Manor and they had quickly formulated a plan hoping that Voldemort would be expecting a much larger group of Order members; perhaps a smaller group would go further without being noticed. They Apparated to just outside Little Hangleton using all the available invisibility cloaks they could find. When they reached Riddle Manor, they had been surprised to see that there were no wards and only two guards standing outside.

In retrospect, this should have alarmed them. Mad Eye, at the least, should have been suspicious. But all anyone could think about was getting Harry back, hoping that perhaps it would not be too late. And so, with two quick stunning spells courtesy of Tonks and Kingsley, they were inside Death Eater Headquarters.

And then they realized their mistake.

Inside the main hall they had seen Harry, tortured and chained but still amazingly alive. But they also saw the entire mass of Death Eaters and Voldemort, wands drawn. Before anyone had been able to react, Voldemort spoke in his high cold voice.

"So you see, Harry, you are going to have the pleasure of watching your friends die before I kill you. I'm just disappointed there aren't more of them. Perhaps you aren't as well loved as I had thought."

As he spoke, Hermione had taken a quick glance around the room, hoping for some sort of inspiration; some way out of this hellish situation they had just found themselves in. And that was when her eyes had fallen on him. Severus Snape. Traitor, murderer and Death Eater, standing just feet from Harry with Bellatrix Lestrange next to him. The fury that had swept through Hermione, seeing the proof of his betrayal with her own eyes, had almost been incapacitating. He had looked so… smug, so proud standing there, with a horrible half smile on his face. She'd desperately wanted to curse him.

Before she had time to react, however, the Death Eaters had started firing curses and she hadn't enough time to do anything but defend herself, all the while hoping that they could figure out a way to get to Harry.

Kingsley had been the first to fall, hit in the back by Antonin Dolohov. Hermione remembered how the Death Eater had nearly killed her at the Department of Mysteries two years before. Not long after that Mad Eye hadn't been able to move fast enough for MacNair, who stunned him. Hermione had refused to look as she heard Mad Eye's screams when a group of Death Eaters surrounded him intent upon getting revenge. She had glanced to her left and was shocked to realize that Ron had managed to get within feet of Harry and was fighting off Bellatrix Lestrange. How had he reached him so quickly? Hermione wondered as she had run to him.

"You go free Harry," she'd gasped taking her place next to him, "and I'll continue here."

She had continued her fight with Bellatrix, barely able to stay on her feet while Ron cast a severing spell on the chains that were holding Harry. Bellatrix had looked behind Hermione and, when she realized what was going on, immediately moved her attention to the two boys.

"_Avada Kedavra_," she'd screamed, aiming for Harry hoping to end it all and gain Voldemort's favour all at once. At the same moment Hermione had felt a push to her back and a spell shot past her. When she looked up, Ron had given Harry a push yelling at him to run, while at the same time stepping into the line of fire from Bellatrix's spell.

She remembered screaming his name and trying to crawl toward him when Tonks had suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her the rest of the way. Somehow she had managed to hold on to both of them, while pulling something out of her pocket.

"Portkey," she'd whispered to Hermione. "Harry's out, we need to go."

Hermione had felt the familiar tugging sensation as she activated the portkey, and the next thing she saw was the Great Hall. Because it was summer, the Order had also been using Hogwarts as a base and Minerva McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey were standing near by, clearly waiting for them. The two women rushed over to them.

"Where are the rest?" Professor McGonagall asked while Madam Pomfrey had begun checking the two women for injuries. One look at Ron told her he was beyond her help.

"Harry escaped and he should be on his way," Tonks had gasped. "Kingsley and Mad Eye… there…there wasn't enough to bring back. Ron was the only one we could get to."

Hermione had covered her mouth and willed herself not to wretch at the thought of what had happened to the two left behind. At that moment Harry burst through the door running over to them and Hermione lost any amount of self control she had. The two sat sobbing over Ron's body, oblivious to any attempts from the others to remove them from the side of their lost friend.

The rest of the day had been a blur to Hermione and would remain that way until the day she died. The rest of the Order had been notified, including all the Weasleys. Harry was furious that he was forced to remain in the hospital ward to repair his numerous wounds and several broken bones. The story of the events at Riddle Manor was relayed by Harry, Hermione and Tonks and all their stories were the same. The only thing they couldn't figure out was how Harry had managed to get free so easily. By rights, none of them should have lived given the number of Death Eaters they were up against.

As the day had passed into evening and Hermione thought back to the events at Riddle Manor, something strange also occurred to her. She'd mentioned it to McGonagall who had asked her for her account of the events.

"You know," she said pausing halfway through her story, "I saw Prof… I saw Snape when we first arrived. He was standing right by Harry. But I never saw him actually hit anyone with a curse. I don't even remember seeing him except once. What was he doing I wonder?"

"Well, we can be grateful that things went our way, it seems," Professor McGonagall said, avoiding the question. Hermione thought her voice sounded a little strange, strained perhaps, but she had been too exhausted to think much about it.

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As Hermione looked back across the lake, thinking of those events, just three days ago, she heard a faint rustling behind her, in the trees. She turned quickly, pulling her wand out of her robes. They were expecting some sort of retaliation from Voldemort, but everyone assumed the wards around Hogwarts made it an unlikely target. Still, there were many creatures in the Forbidden Forest that she wouldn't want to face unarmed.

"Who's there?" she called holding her wand out, ready to hex the first person she saw. It was quiet for a moment and she thought perhaps it had been her imagination. But then, just as she began to put her wand down, she heard it again, this time louder and closer.

As she raised her wand again, and before she could react, she heard someone hiss "_Petrificus Totalus"_.

She fell to the ground as if she were a rock. To her horror she watched Severus Snape appear out of the forest, looking as if he was doing nothing more interesting than going for a stroll. He walked over to her, until he was towering above her, wand in hand and his cold black eyes staring down at her.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thanks for everyone's kind reviews! Also a huge thanks to RenitaLeandra who is making this story so much better than it otherwise would have been._

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Chapter 2 

"Well, what have we here?" Snape said, his voice cold and cruel. "I would think that Potter's remaining sidekick would have more sense than to wander out on her own."

Hermione could do nothing but stare up at him, her heart hammering so hard in her chest it was difficult to make out his words. What would Harry do, she wondered, if he lost both his best friends in one week? She stared in horror as Snape raised his wand, and wondered if the _Avada Kedavra _hurt or if there was another manner of death he would use on her that might be a little more painful. Before he could curse her, however, she heard the sound of someone else approaching. She desperately tried to break the body-bind so she could call for help, but to no avail. That's when she heard a voice, close behind her.

"Really, Severus, let her go. That isn't very funny," Minerva McGonagall said from behind Hermione.

Snape didn't seem surprised by her appearance, Hermione noticed, and as he followed through with his spell, she felt herself begin to move. She scrambled to her feet, putting as much distance between herself and the former professor as possible.

"I was just giving her a little warning," Snape said coolly, putting away his wand. "She is putting people in danger wandering around like that. How typically Gryffindor of her to never think of the consequences."

Professor McGonagall gave him a stern look. "And what are you doing out here where everyone can see you? You are putting people in danger yourself. There could very well be Death Eaters close by."

"What… What is going on?" Hermione managed to gasp out, while staring in dismay at the two people in front of her.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Professor McGonagall said, looking distressed. "I had planned to explain this under different circumstances. We really must get inside first, though, before Severus is seen."

Before Hermione could protest, McGonagall had pulled her by the arm and they were walking quickly toward the castle. Rather than go directly in, however, Hermione realized they were heading toward Hagrid's hut. Hagrid, she knew, was not there as he had once again set out with Grawp in the hopes of convincing other giants to revolt against Voldemort.

Arriving at the hut, Professor McGonagall quickly pushed open the door and motioned for them to join her. As soon as they were inside and the door was shut, Hermione turned on the Headmistress.

"What are you doing?" she nearly shouted. "Why are you allowing him at Hogwarts? He is a traitor! Didn't I tell you that he was there at Riddle Manor? He was standing right next to Bellatrix Lestrange!"

"Hermione, please, calm down," McGonagall said quietly. "I understand that this is a shock, but…"

"Shock? Shock? A shock would be discovering Dumbledore is alive. This is complete insanity!" She stopped for a moment giving McGonagall a wary look. "Dumbledore _isn't_ alive is he?"

McGonagall sadly shook her head in response. "No, Hermione. However it is important for you to understand that the situation regarding his death is not quite what it appeared to be. Sometimes we are required to make extraordinary sacrifices for the good of our cause."

"Are you claiming that Snape did not murder him? Because the last time I checked there was a witness who said otherwise. And I'm fairly sure that this kind of cold blooded murder is exactly what the Order has been fighting to prevent."

"Of course…" McGonagall began to reply, but Snape cut her off.

"I don't know why you're bothering, Minerva," Snape said speaking up for the first time. "She is clearly influenced by Potter's way of thinking. Subtleties are lost on people like them."

"We need to get the Order together," Minerva said, deciding to ignore Snape's bating. "All of them, especially Remus. He's going to need to be there to calm Harry down. He will be completely out of control considering recent… events. Hermione, I need to ask you to keep this quiet until we can talk to everyone."

"We don't have much time," Snape said quietly. "The Dark Lord is in a fury over the rescue. I need to speak to you Minerva. Alone." He looked pointedly at Hermione, whose confusion was growing by the minute.

Professor McGonagall also looked over at her. "Hermione, could you please go back up to the castle. Don't say anything to anyone about this until I get up there. Not even Harry. He would never understand."

"I don't understand," Hermione said through gritted teeth.

"Everything will be explained in time. I realize this is all very difficult for you, but you _must_ trust me on this." Hermione gave her a look of disbelief and McGongall grabbed hold of her shoulders, forcing her to meet her eyes. "There are more than just our lives at stake with this. If word gets to the wrong people that Severus has been seen here, this will have devastating consequences for the Order. Do you understand me?"

Hermione swallowed hard and mentally weighed her trust of Professor McGonagall against her distrust of Snape. Finally she gave sharp nod. "This had better be explained soon. Harry would never forgive me for keeping this from me."

Snape gave an impatient sigh but McGonagall's expression was one of relief. "Please, you must go now. I'm sure Harry is wondering where you are."

Hermione nodded again and, after giving one more glare to Snape, hurried out of the hut.

As soon as she left, Severus turned to look at Professor McGonagall. "Can she be trusted?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"She is upset and confused, but she will not say anything," Minerva said looking out the window and watching Hermione walk back up to the castle. Then she turned back and looked at the younger man. "What has happened?"

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Hermione felt her heart pounding with anger and hurt as she made her way back up to the castle. _'How could she be talking to that traitor? I saw him there in Riddle Manor. He had been involved in their trap. What if he has put her under the Imperius Curse?'_

By the time she reached the castle she was nearly sick. In her haste to put as much room between herself and Hagrid's hut, she had run into Harry, nearly knocking him down.

"Hermione!" he said grabbing hold of her arms. "What's wrong? You look all pale."

Hermione stared at Harry for a long moment, debating if she should say something. She opened her mouth to tell him what had happened, but when she thought of Professor McGonagall, she paused. She had always been the most trustworthy teacher, next to Dumbledore. Although she wasn't as all certain that McGonagall was not under the Imperius curse, she could not bring herself to betray the professor's trust.

"Sorry, Harry. I'm just still so upset." She felt as though anyone would be able to see past her poor attempts at hiding her true state of mind, but Harry seemed to accept it.

"I'm sorry Hermione. I shouldn't have even asked. I feel miserable too. I just keep replaying what happened. Why was I so stupid? We never should have gone to that warehouse without letting someone else in the Order know." He paused and swallowed hard. "Especially after Sirius… How could I make the same mistake again?"

"Don't blame yourself, Harry. Ron and I didn't think to tell anyone either," Hermione said patting him comfortingly on the back. They stood in silence for a moment as Hermione tried to think of a way of wording her next question.

"Harry," she said slowly, "after the Death Eaters took you, who… who was responsible for your imprisonment and… torture?"

Harry had not said much about the few hours he had spent with the Death Eaters, and until now Hermione had not asked. He did not answer right away, taking a few moments to compose himself.

"Mostly Voldemort, but sometimes I was left to Bellatrix Lestrange. She seemed to enjoy it," he said with a cringe. "There were a few hexes from some Death Eaters that I didn't know as well."

"But that was it?" Hermione asked, hoping she didn't sound too eager. "What about Snape? I would have thought that he'd have been excited to get his hands on you after all this time."

"Yeah," Harry said looking puzzled. "I would have too. It's funny, though. I don't really remember seeing much of him."

Hermione quieted, deciding to refrain from saying anything more on the subject. It filled her with some hope though, that perhaps McGonagall had not lost her mind after all.

"Why don't we go in?" Harry said after a few more minutes of silence. "Ginny just got back a few minutes ago. She said she couldn't bear to stay at the Burrow any longer than she had to."

Hermione followed Harry into the Entrance Hall where she saw Ginny talking to Tonks, who had been forced by the Ministry to take some time off from her Auror duties to recuperate. All Hermione wanted to do was go back to her room, so that she could think over the afternoon's shocking events in privacy.

Hermione made her way up to the Gryffindor dormitories. Although they had finished their seventh year and completed their N.E.W.T.S., Professor McGonagall had arranged accommodations for various Order members, including former students, in the different dormitories for the times when the Order was meeting at Hogwarts. Other times they still met at Grimmauld Place, however it was not large enough to accommodate everyone at once. Often, Hermione felt like a nomad with no real place to call home. Her parents were on an extended holiday at the insistence of the Ministry, so Hermione had been dividing her time between the Burrow, Hogwarts and Grimmauld Place.

Currently, Hermione was sharing a room with Ginny, Luna Lovegood (who, as the only Ravenclaw had taken to staying with the Gryffindors) and occasionally Tonks. She was glad, however, that the room was currently empty so that she would not have to talk to anyone. She collapsed onto her bed and thought about what had just happened.

Never in a million years would she have guessed Professor McGonagall was in contact with Snape. Yet, as she laid thinking about it, she remembered something else the professor had said during their brief conversation.

"_We need to get the Order together. All of them, especially Remus. He's going to need to be there to calm Harry down."_

Hermione thought about that statement for a long minute. Especially Remus. He's going to need to calm Harry down. That made it sound as if Remus was in contact with Snape along with McGonagall. Although her first reaction was to reject this idea, she conceded to herself that at this point nothing should be assumed.

'_So_,'she thought reasonably to herself, '_if nothing should be assumed, then perhaps I have been basing my beliefs on false notions of Snape being guilty.'_

Yet still, she could not change the fact that Snape had killed Dumbledore and he had been at Riddle Manor.

'_But I never saw him actually hit any of us with one of his curses.'_ Her head was beginning to hurt. If Snape was not a traitor, then they had all been working under incorrect assumptions for the past year. No, not everyone; Professor McGonagall hadn't, nor Remus. Yet they also hadn't seen fit to enlighten the other members of the Order either. Of course, the one time it would have been useful for people to know-- when Harry had been captured-- Remus had been in his werewolf state and Professor McGonagall had not been made aware of the rescue attempt.

Now her head was really starting to throb. She wished she could just fall asleep, but the nervous jumping in her stomach prevented that. Yet even more than the sleep, she wished she could tell someone what had just happened, but if McGonagall was telling the truth, there was no way she could let anyone know. If Harry found out, he would immediately seek vengeance upon Snape for Dumbledore's death. Slowly, the afternoon slid away into evening and the room began to darken. She knew she should get up and find something to eat as she had not eaten anything at all during the day, but she couldn't get her legs to obey her mind's wishes. Just as she had finally convinced herself to get up, she heard the door creak open.

"Hermione? You awake?" she heard Ginny ask, poking her head through the door. For a long moment Hermione considered not answering, but she was going to have to face people eventually.

"Yeah," she said tiredly pushing herself into a sitting position. Ginny came all the way into the room and lit a candle by the bed with her wand. She sat down next to Hermione, the bed groaning under her weight.

"Are you okay?"

Hermione shrugged her shoulders trying to find a noncommittal response. Finally she settled for the truth, or a version of it.

"No. I can't sleep, I don't want to eat and I feel like I'm going to be sick." She tried to give Ginny a small smile but failed miserably.

"Yeah, me too," Ginny said quietly. "Harry's a mess. I finally got him to lie down for a while. He's staying in the Hufflepuff dorms with Ernie. I don't think he can bear to go back into Gryffindor's quite yet. I know he's not been sleeping either. At Grimmauld Place he kept waking up with nightmares. I could hear him from my room."

Hermione had been able to hear him as well, but she didn't say so. Together the two sat in silence for a long moment before Ginny spoke again.

"Professor McGonagall is calling a meeting. She won't say what it's about, but it must be important because everyone from Grimmauld Place and the Burrow have been flooing in. Even Mum and Dad are here.

Hermione felt her stomach drop and her heart sink. She knew she couldn't tell Ginny what the meeting was about, but she felt sick at what her friend's reaction was going to be. She sat for another minute and then nodded and stood up, trying to comb her tangled hair with her fingers.

"Well, we had better get going then," she said walking toward the door. "Is it in the Great Hall?"

Ginny nodded and the two left the room. They made their way down to the common room where she saw Fred and George coming in.

"Hey, we were just coming to look for you two. Everyone else is down in the Great Hall already," Fred said trying his hardest to smile. They climbed through the portrait hole and made their way downstairs. By the time they got there it appeared that Fred was correct and they were the last to arrive. Even Harry was already there, sitting and talking quietly to Remus. Hermione and Ginny went over to join him and Hermione took a quick glance around the room.

Further down the table from them sat Molly and Arthur with Bill and Fleur. Molly looked pale and somehow slightly shrunken and Arthur had his arm around her, comforting her. At the next table she saw Hestia Jones, Sturgis Podmore, Tonks and Dedalus Diggle whispering quietly together. Every now and then Hestia would reach over and pat Tonks's hand. Elphias Doge was also sitting with them, but he appeared to be dozing. Further down from them was a group of former DA members who were now all of age and had been allowed to join the Order. Neville was chatting with Luna, Seamus and Dean. While Susan Bones, Angelina Johnson and Ernie Macmillan appeared to be deep into a conversation of their own. While she was watching, Lee Jordan came over and sat next to Fred and George. It amazed her how many more Order members there were just because of Harry and the DA. Then, far in the back, her eyes fell on an old man, a grey pointed wizard's hat pulled far down onto his head. She could not make out his face and, although she thought he looked vaguely familiar, she was sure she had never seen him at Order meetings before.

As she sat watching the Order members around her, Professor McGonagall came out of a small door by the Head Table. Hermione recognized it as the one Harry had gone through when his name came out of the Goblet of Fire. She motioned to Remus who also came up to join her.

"We have called this meeting because there has been a crisis of sorts that we will need to deal with immediately," Remus began. "There is a very delicate situation that until now has only been dealt with by Minerva and myself. Well, the time has come that everyone present needs to be made aware of the situation. This is going to be very shocking, perhaps even upsetting, to many of you," his eyes rested on Harry, "but I am going to ask that you remain calm and with your wands put away."

He then glanced toward the door Professor McGonagall had just come out of, and seemed to give an imperceptible nod. Hermione found she couldn't witness what she knew was going to happen so she turned her head down to stare at the table in front of her. After several long seconds, she heard a collective gasp before the order and calm disintegrated into chaos.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Once again, a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed and to RenitaLeandra who has put so much work into making this story better that it would have been. _

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Chapter 3

"TRAITOR!"

"Murdering bastard!"

"Death Eater!"

The shouts echoed across the Great Hall. Hermione managed to raise her eyes only to witness Ginny staring up at Snape, her eyes narrow angry slits.

"Have they lost their minds?" she hissed at Hermione. "What is he doing here?"

Hermione found that she couldn't open her mouth to answer. It seemed that all her words were lodged in her throat. Suddenly she heard another shout, coming above the rest.

"Harry, NO!" shouted Remus. Harry was lunging toward Snape, his hands outstretched as if he was going to choke him. Remus managed to grab one of his arms, pulling him away.

"Get off me!" shouted Harry trying to pull his arm away. For such a frail-looking person, Remus had incredible strength, as a result, Harry could not free himself. Instead he turned around to Remus and began to shout.

"What is he doing here? Have you lost your bloody minds? He killed Dumbledore!"

"Harry," Remus said, his voice as steady as always, "There are certain things that you are not aware of regarding Dumbledore's death. You need to hear the entire story."

"I don't need to hear anything. I was there! Or have you all forgot? I watched him point his wand at Dumbledore and murder him!" He turned back around resuming his struggle to get to Snape.

"I will curse you the first chance I get!" Harry yelled at him.

"And how do you plan to do that without a wand, Potter?" Snape asked, barely raising his voice. Harry's face flushed. While being held captive by the Death Eaters, his wand had been taken from him by Voldemort and he had not been able to visit Diagon Alley to purchase a new one. The situation had caused the Order to put him under twenty-four hour guard, much to his dismay.

"Just as soon as I get a wand, I will make you sorry for the things you have done!"

"Well, Potter," Snape said walking slowly toward him, "let me give you that opportunity right now."

He reached into his robes and pulled out a wand. For one moment it seemed that the entire room was holding their breath wondering if Snape would hex someone who was unarmed. And then he held the wand out, the handle pointing away from him. Harry looked down and recognized his own wand being handed toward him. He looked up at Snape, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"What have you done to it?"

"Nothing. As I said, you are free to try it out, assuming you will not be using any of the Unforgivables." He stood still staring straight at Harry.

Harry gave him a long hard look and then muttered, "_Lumos_." The tip of his wand lit up, and he looked over to Professor McGonagall and Remus.

"I want to know what's going on," he said through clenched teeth.

"I understand," Professor McGonagall said, nodding. "We intend to explain it to you, however, there are some sensitive issues involved. Come with me." She motioned Harrytoward the door that she and Snape had appeared from. Then she looked past Harry to Hermione. "Perhaps, under the circumstances, you should come as well."

Harry gave Hermione a questioning look which she determinedly ignored. As they walked toward the door, they heard McGonagall whisper to Remus, "I hope you can keep Severus from the firing squad until we return, yes?"

Remus nodded, while something close to a smile played across his lips. "I'll do my best."

Professor McGonagall ushered them through the door and into a small room. Hermione immediately noticed the presence of a Pensieve that had been set up on a table on the far side of the room. She stared at it with a small amount of nervousness. Although Harry had told her all about them, and she had even gone so far as to study the concepts behind it, she had never personally used one.

"There are several memories that I believe would be helpful to understanding the situation," Professor McGonagall said, closing the door behind her. "They were found after Professor Dumbledore's death. Mister Potter, I understand you have used a Pensieve with Professor Dumbledore in the past, correct?" Harry nodded and she turned to Hermione. "Miss Granger, have you ever used one?"

Hermione shook her head, continuing to look at it warily.

"Very well, then. Perhaps it would be best if you went first since you look a little unsure." She reached over and poured a silvery memory into the Pensieve stirring it with her wand. "Just lean over until your face touches the memory. Then it will do the rest for you."

Hermione walked over toward the Pensieve but when she leaned over, it no longer was silvery. Instead it looked like the inside of the Headmistress's office, as if she were viewing it from the ceiling. She hesitated only a moment before bending her head down to touch the smooth surface. As soon as she did, she felt as if she were falling down into the office. When she landed, she began to survey her surroundings. Her heart gave a little jump when she saw Professor Dumbledore sitting at the desk, calmly writing on a long piece of parchment. After only a few moments, she saw Harry and Professor McGonagall appear next to her. Harry was looking around with curiosity; however Professor McGonagall appeared to be well aware of what they would see.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Enter," Dumbledore said standing and moving away from the desk. A younger version of Severus Snape walked in. He could not have been more than in his early twenties and had a nervous, twitchy look to him. He was pale and skinny, and looked to be in desperate need of a good meal and bath.

"Severus," Dumbledore said smiling, "you're right on time. Why don't you have a seat? Our third party appears to be a little late. Have you given thought to everything we discussed?"

Snape nodded his head but said nothing, nor did he meet the older man's eyes. This did not appear to concern Dumbledore however and he continued talking.

"You have done the honourable thing, Severus, coming to me right away. Hopefully we will be able to stop him before it's too late." Again, Snape jerked his head in a motion resembling a nod. There were several long minutes of silence where Dumbledore was studying Snape, and Snape was studying the floor before there was another knock on the door.

"Come," Dumbledore said. The door opened again and both Hermione and Harry gasped. Even Snape was looking at Dumbledore with an incredulous expression.

"You've brought the bartender of the Hog's Head?" he asked. Dumbledore merely smiled.

"Well, I thought under the circumstances, it would be best to keep all this between us. I don't think you have ever been properly introduced to my brother."

Again Hermione and Harry exchanged a look of surprise. Dumbledore continued to speak.

"Severus, this is my brother Aberforth. Abe, I think you are already familiar with Severus." Aberforth just nodded and turned to Dumbledore.

"Are we ready to get on with this then?" he asked, his voice was low and grave, as if it did not get regular use.

"Yes, did you bring your wand?" Dumbledore asked and the other man withdrew an old, well used wand. "Good." Dumbledore stood in front of Snape and grasped his hand. Aberforth reached out and touched their clasped hands with the tip of his wand. Hermione realized Snape was about to take an Unbreakable Vow, having taken one herself when she joined the Order. They were now required for all Order members after the apparent defection of Snape.

"Severus, will you follow the directions of the Order of the Phoenix in order to facilitate the downfall of Lord Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked.

"I will," Snape said quietly. A tongue of flame wrapped itself around their clasped hands.

"Will you follow any direct orders from myself, regardless of your personal feelings?"

"I will." His eyes followed the second tongue of flame.

"Will you do whatever you must to protect the child in the Prophecy?"

"I will."

"And will you refrain from divulging any information to Lord Voldemort, or the Death Eaters, that could harm any member of the Order of the Phoenix?"

"I will."

Dumbledore stood still for another moment as if studying the man,and as they watched, the scene slowly faded away and another one took its place.

They suddenly found themselves in the Potion's lab. Before them was an older Severus Snape bent over a cauldron, his face creased with concentration. He looked very similar to how he did now, so Hermione guessed that this memory could not have been too far in the past. He had just added some powdered unicorn horn when the door flew open and Dumbledore stumbled in. He was clutching his right arm and appeared to be in obvious pain.

"Severus," he gasped as the door shut behind him, "quick!"

Snape looked up in alarm and quickly ran over to a shelf where he seemed to have a line of potions made up and waiting for some purpose. He grabbed a vial of dark green liquid that appeared to be smoking and brought it over to Dumbledore, who quickly drank it. Snape then pulled the sleeve away from Dumbledore's hand. The hand was black and dead looking, just as Hermione had remembered it from her sixth year, but in this memoryit seemed to be spreading up his arm. He had pulled out his wand and was murmuring a series of spells, touching various points along Dumbledore's wrist and arm. She could not make out all of the words, but they did not sound familiar. He ran back and forth several times to that shelf, each time pulling down a new potion that Dumbledore would swallow. He would then perform the same spell with his wand. Each time it appeared that the blackness would recede a bit down his arm, until finally it was only his hand that remained black Heput his wand away and Dumbledore sank down into a chair.

"There is nothing more I can do," Snape said wiping a line of sweat from his brow. "I'm afraid the hand is beyond repair."

Dumbledore just nodded with a faint smile. "You have done much, Severus. Thank you."

"What happened?" Snape asked as he began putting away the empty vials that had contained the numerous potions.

"The ring," Dumbledore said. "I was not expecting the curse that was on it."

"But it has been taken care of?"

"Yes, another Horcrux has been destroyed."

Hermione heard Harry gasp next to her. Dumbledore had not even told McGonagall about the Horcruxes before his death, yet apparently he had told Snape.

For a moment, it appeared that the creases in Snape's face relaxed, however it was hard to be sure as this memory now faded away again to be replaced by a new one.

They were standing at the edge of the Forbidden Forest and it felt like a cold spring evening. As they stood there, Dumbledore and Snape came out from the forest. They stopped several feet away and Harry and Hermione moved closer in order to hear them better.

"Absolutely not!" they heard Snape say, his voice hard and angry. "This is insanity. We need to be taking care of Malfoy now. He should not be allowed to continue."

"Severus," Dumbledore's voice sounded patient but firm, "you know what will happen if we do that. You know what Voldemort will do to his family. We must allow this to play itself out."

"To what purpose? What will happen if he succeeds? What will happen if he _doesn't_?" The last words were said in a hiss. "You cannot allow me to fulfil my vow to Narcissa."

"I trust that everything will work itself out," Dumbledore said. His face was calm but his voice sounded tense.

"You are taking your safety for granted, Albus."

"Severus, you know what you have sworn, and you know what will be required of you from myself, and Narcissa as well. You must fulfilDraco's mission if he cannot. It is imperative that you continue your work as a spy, regardless of what may happen to me," Dumbledore said, his voice beginning to rise Hermione could tell he was quickly losing patience.

"I don't want to continue this anymore, Albus. Remaining a spy will do no one any good if I am imprisoned in Azkaban."

"Will your courage fail you now?" Dumbledore asked. He sounded both desperate and angry at the same time. As if he would say anything to force Snape to do what he was requesting. "You have made an Unbreakable Vow, Severus. You have no choice."

He turned toward the forest where there had been a rustling of leaves, before looking back at Severus. "This conversation is over. You know what is expected of you. I want a report about the investigations into Slytherin by the end of the week."

Hermione stared in surprise as Dumbledore walked off toward the castle. She had never seen him angry before. After several long minutes, Severus followed in the same direction. As the scene faded away, Hermione saw the large outline of Hagrid, hiding in the bushes.

The next thing she saw was the small room off of the Great Hall, the Penseive, and Harry who sat down heavily in a chair, burying his face in his hands.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Once again, a big thank you to those of you who reviewed and to RenitaLeandra who managed to get this chapter out even though she was very busy. I really do appreciate it!_

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Chapter 4 

It was completely quiet in the room as Hermione looked over at Harry. She walked over and touched him on his shoulder. He tensed at the contact.

"Harry? Are you okay?"

For a long moment she didn't think he would answer, but slowly he pulled his hands away from his face and looked up at her. She saw guilt and frustration in them. Then he turned and looked at Professor McGonagall.

"Why didn't Professor Dumbledore ever tell me? Why didn't you tell me before now?"

"We can only guess why Albus kept this a secret," she said quietly, "however I can only assume that it is for the same reason that I did. The greatest chance of Severus Snape being successful as a spy, was for as few people as possible to be completely aware of the circumstances regarding his loyalty. When he died, he left these memories with Aberforth who, aside from Albus and Severus, was the only one who knew why Severus was trusted so completely. Aberforth had been instructed to give me the memories in the event of Albus's death and I shared them with Remus as he was now the head of the Order. We contacted Severus shortly after that and never intended for anyone to know the truth until the war was over. It seemed the safest course of action given the extremely dangerous situation he was in."

"However, Severus made a rather rash decision this afternoon to approach Miss Granger here," her eyes flickered toward Hermione, "and I knew then that we could no longer keep this a secret. It was only a matter of time before Hermione told you. In addition to that, there have been developments that now require your knowledge."

"What developments?" Harry asked.

"I will leave that to Severus to explain. However I must request that neither of you tell anyone what you have seen here. It is better for Severus if not everyone is aware of the Unbreakable Vow. It is better to have people suspicious in case You-Know-Who finds out about his contact with us."

Both Harry and Hermione nodded their agreement and Professor McGonagall led them out of the room. The tension in the Great Hall was so thick Hermione thought that she could nearly feel it on her skin. Snape was standing next to Remus, although they both appeared to be highly uncomfortable. There was the quiet buzz of talking throughout the rest of the room.

Hermione's eyes once again rested on the man in the back of the room. She now recognized him from the Pensieve. It was Aberforth Dumbledore. He did not appear to be terribly interested in the events in the room, however he sat a little straighter as he saw them enter. She went and sat back down next to Ginny, while Harry went over to stand next to Remus and Snape.

"What happened in there?" Ginny asked Hermione as she took her seat. "You were in there forever."

Hermione gave her a guilty look, unsure of what to say. Before Ginny could question her further, her eyes widened as she watched Harry. He had approached Snape and they looked at each other warily for a long moment. Then Harry held out his hand. Snape paused for an instant and then quickly met Harry's hand with his own for a shake. They broke apart quickly and Harry looked more than a little embarrassed. He could hear the increase in the volume of people's voices, so he turned toward them to speak.

"I can't tell you all thatI know, but I'm going to ask you to trust me," he said nervously, shifting from one foot to the other. "Snape is to be treated with the same respect as you would treat me."

A hush fell over the room and it appeared that he had rendered them all speechless. Several people were staring at him with their mouths hanging open in shock. Harry looked around the room to see if there would be any outright objections. When it became clear there would be none, he took his seat again next to Hermione. Then Professor McGonagall got up to speak.

"Severus has been continuing his role as a spy since Professor Dumbledore's death and has been in constant contact with both Remus and myself. However, since the recent rescue of Harry, some new issues have arisen that make it necessary for you all to be aware of Severus's continued role with the Order of the Phoenix." She glanced over toward Severus who stepped forward.

"The Dark Lord has been particularly angry that Harry was able to escape along with Auror Tonks and Miss Granger, during what should have been the perfect trap. In fact, his anger is so great that he is questioning the loyalty of his Death Eaters, myself included. He believes that someone must have been helping them to escape and he is now testing the loyalty of each one of us. He has given me orders that I am to kidnap a member of the Order, a member of Potter's inner circle, in the hopes of luring him back to be recaptured. The only way I can continue my role as a spy is to obey his order."

The room broke out into loud panicked conversations, but Severus continued speaking over them.

"I have spoken to Professor McGonagall and Mister Lupin regarding this, but ultimately, it will be the decision of the person I have been ordered to take back."

Then Hermione stared in shock as he walked over to her, looking down at her with a fierce gaze. "Miss Granger, just how much are you willing to sacrifice for Mister Potter?"

"NO!" shouted Harry and he stood up placing himself between Hermione and Snape. "I won't allow it! I don't care what happens!"

Severus gave him a hard glare. "Step aside Potter. I don't believe the question was addressed to you." He stared down at her again and she felt all the blood drain from her face. Although she always thought she would do anything to help Harry, she had never expected this.

"Severus," Remus said coming to stand next to them and gently pulling on Harry's arm. "I think you need to explain the entire situation to Hermione."

"If she were truly loyal to the cause, she would not need any further enticement. Unless I am the only one here truly willing to risk my life for the defeat of Voldemort." He glared at the people scattered around the room.

"She was involved in the rescue and has risked her life as much as anyone," Harry said pulling his arm free of Remus's hand. "How dare you question her loyalty!"

Hermione put her hand out to silence everyone. "I will do whatever is requested of me," she said meeting Severus's eye. "I have risked my life before for the cause, including Voldemort's reappearance at the Department of Mysteries." She looked at Severus and raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe you were present for that, however. As I recall, you remained behind at Hogwarts."

She was rewarded with seeing Severus's face flush,and she felt a rush of pride regardless of Remus's attempt to quiet her. "This is not a contest of bravery," Remus said quietly. "Everyone in this room has proven their valour."

Professor McGonagall also came over. Many of the other people in the room had moved closer to them in the hopes of hearing everything that was being said.

"Hermione," she said as she reached them, "this is as much an opportunity for us as You-Know-Who believes it is for him. We have discussed our possibilities and Severus believes that if he could teach you Occlumency, that we could plant false memories in your head, giving You-Know-Who a distorted picture of our plans. This could be the greatest opportunity we have for a long time."

"No way!" Harry said again. "Snape tried to teach me Occlumency and look at how that turned out. Voldemort just ended up with more access to my thoughts."

"We are assuming that Miss Granger will not prove to be as weak as you were Potter," Severus said sneering at him.

This time Harry grabbed his wand, shoving it at Severus's chest. "Would you like to continue insulting me?"

Hermione grabbed Harry's hand, forcing him to point the wand downward. "Don't Harry. It's not worth it. We must all try to get along for the sake of the Order."

"Yes, Potter. Perhaps for once you can stretch your thoughts beyond only yourself. There are other people to consider here."

Harry glared at him but put his wand away and backed off. Hermione turned to look at Severus, Minerva, and Remus, who were all looking at her expectantly.

"How much time do I have?"

"The Dark Lord has told me that he expects me to bring you to him within a week," said Severus.

"A week?" Her voice rose with shock. "But Harry was taking Occlumency lessons for months."

"Yes, well, as I said, we are hoping you will prove more efficient," Severus said while Harry's face flushed with anger. "We will begin lessons first thing in the morning. It will be gruelling, but this will be the kind of opportunity the Order has been looking for since the Dark Lord's return. If I am successful in this, I should have the Dark Lord's complete trust."

Hermione nodded and glanced around the room, taking in everyone's reactions to the situation. Harry looked angry still; Ginny, Molly and Arthur looked concerned. Fred and George looked on encouragingly as if this would be a great adventure for her. She saw Neville tremble a little as if the idea was more frightening than he could bear. Many of the older Order members were looking concerned, except Tonks who gave her a smile when she met her eyes.

Then her eyes met Aberforth's for the first time. He had also moved closer to hear what was going on. He gave her a small encouraging smile, his eyes twinkling in a way that reminded her so strongly of his brother… she could hardly bear it.

"So what's it going to be girl?" he asked in the same gravelly voice she had heard in the Pensieve.

She turned to Severus and nodded. "Alright. I'll do it, for Harry and the Order."

Severus just nodded and backed away. "I will expect you tomorrow morning at seven o'clock in the Room of Requirement. And leave your wand behind." And then he walked away out of the Great Hall, never turning to look back.

Remus stepped forward and put his arms around Hermione in a hug. "You'll be fine. We all have faith in you."

Several more people came over to express their opinions on the subject. Whether it was the twins heartily telling her that she had lost her mind; Molly's tearful hug; or Hestia Jones's nervous patting, everyone seemed to have something to say.

Finally the room began to empty, as the people who were staying drifted back to their dorms, and others began leaving the property to Apparate home. Hermione saw Remus and Tonks wander outdoors into the night, their arms around each other. She felt a sudden pang of heartache and loss, and her eyes filled with tears. The only person whose concern she really wanted right then was Ron's. He would have been furious at the idea, but at least she always knew he cared. When sheturned away-- unable to continue looking-- Hermione saw Harry and Ginny watching her with an expression of sympathy on their faces.

"Come on," Harry said, motioning in the other direction. "Why don't you come with us? We're going to go see if the house-elves have anything to eat in the kitchen."

"Oh, that's okay Harry. I'm not really hungry," Hermione said tiredly.

"Come on dear," Molly said putting her arm around Hermione's shoulder. "We'll all go. You're going to have to keep up your strength if you're going to go through with this."

"Well, alright," Hermione finally said reluctantly. She followed Harry and the Weasley clan down to the kitchens. She spent the rest of the night in a bit of a daze. She was still emotionally exhausted from the funeral and she was physically exhausted from the rest of the day's events. As she fell into bed that night, she thought she had never been so tired in her entire life. That thought had barely enough time to escape her mind, however, when she fell into a restless sleep with dreams of Ron and Snape, and Riddle Manor.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Thanks to RenitaLeandra who got this chapter done extra quick!_

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Chapter 5

Hermione woke the next morning with a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. At first, she could not place why she had that feeling, and then the previous day's events came back to her; first with Ron's funeral and then Snape's return. She forced back the tears that came to her eyes every time she thought of Ron and instead, tried to bury her head in her pillow in an attempt to block out the thought of what she had to do. It did not last long, however, since she heard Tonks's voice come from the other side of the drawn curtain.

"Hermione, you'd better get up if you don't want to be late. It's six-thirty now."

Hermione mumbled something unintelligible and threw the covers back. She climbed out of bed and saw Tonks smiling at her, her hair a shocking colour of electric blue.

"What do you think?" Tonks said, pulling at the corkscrew curls. "I thought I'd experiment."

"Oh! Um…well it certainly is different," Hermione said rubbing her eyes and yawning. "What does Remus think?"

"Well, you know, he's partial to pink," Tonks said her face turning a little red. "Actually, he um…screamed. I suppose I should warn him when I'm going to morph."

Hermione couldn't help but smile at the other woman, whose cheerfulness was amazingly contagious. She pulled on an old set of burgundy robes and pulled a brush through her hair, that always resembled a rat's nest after she had slept, and pulled it back away from her face.

"I guess I'll run down and see if I can grab a bite to eat before I have to meet Snape," she said pulling on her shoes. She looked around at the other drawn curtains. Susan Bones had also stayed in the Gryffindor tower the night before, being the only Hufflepuff girl. Luna and Ginny also appeared to still be asleep.

"They told me last night to tell you good luck," Tonks said nodding in the direction of the other beds. "This whole thing is so strange. It's too bad you can't say what's going on."

Tonks was clearly hinting around for some information but Hermione gave her an apologetic smile. "We'll explain it all when the war is over, but it's for everyone's safety that we don't now."

"That's what Remus said," Tonks said with a sigh and a smile. "Oh well. I'll guess I'll just have to wait a little longer."

Hermione left the Gryffindor tower and quickly made her way down to the Great Hall. She didn't have much time before she had to meet Snape, but she didn't think that Occlumency lessons would go well on an empty stomach… and she had never been one to skip meals.

The Great Hall was mostly empty except for Harry and Remus who were sitting in a corner of one of the tables talking quietly. Hermione walked over to them and they looked up and smiled in greeting.

"Morning, Hermione," Remus said patting her on the back. "How are you feeling this morning?"

She sat down next to him and grabbed several pieces of toast, spreading butter thickly on them. She shrugged her shoulders and grabbed a rasher of bacon. "Nervous I suppose. Occlumency didn't go so well for Harry did it?"

Harry's eyes looked dark with anger. "I swear Hermione, if he treats you the way he treated me I'll…"

"Oh honestly Harry," Hermione said rolling her eyes, "I'll be fine."

She swallowed her first piece of toast and glanced quickly at the time. She had five minutes to get to the Room of Requirement.

"I'd better go. I wouldn't want to be late." She grabbed the rest of her toast and bacon and hurried out of the room, eating as she went.

She was just finishing her last piece of bacon when she reached the Room of Requirement. She brushed her hands off on her robes and opened the door. Severus was already there. The room was quite ordinary looking with the bare walls and floor with only two rickety wooden chairs sitting in it. Hermione swallowed hard. Obviously he wasn't going to encourage her to be comfortable.

"You were almost late," Severus said crossly from the other side of the room. Hermione felt a flare of annoyance.

"There is a phrase for almost late, Professor," Hermione shot back. "It's 'on time'."

Severus glared at her and crossed the room. "You will get nowhere with that sort of attitude. That's how Potter went into these lessons and clearly he was completely inept. And don't call me Professor."

Hermione decided, for the benefit of both of them to ignore his digs at Harry. "Then what should I call you?"

He stopped for a long moment as if this was something that hadn't occurred to him. Finally he heaved a sigh. "I suppose Severus."

Hermione's eyes widened with shock. Remus was the only former professor she had ever managed to call by his first name, and even that had taken a long time before she felt comfortable.

There was a long uncomfortable silence and Hermione found herself staring at her feet. Finally Severus heaved another sigh.

"Well we better get this over with," he said and motioned toward the two chairs. "Sit."

Hermione walked over and sat in one of the chairs. It creaked slightly under her body weight. Severus sat across from her in the other.

"I would assume that in all of your infernal reading that you have come to understand exactly what Legilimency and Occlumency are?" he asked and she nodded. "Good, that at least saves me from lengthy explanations. Now, what you are going to have to learn to do is not only to block the Dark Lord from your thoughts, but also allow him access to false memories, that you will train yourself to plant in your mind. Although he is aware that Potter is planning an attempt to destroy him, to the best of my knowledge he does not yet know that Potter is aware of the Horcruxes. Therefore, you will need to keep him away from any thoughts related to your search. It will take a certain amount of skill that it is yet to be determined you have."

Hermione felt her face flush. She would love nothing more than to point out that she got seven "O's" on her N.E.W.T.S., but she swallowed her pride and said nothing. It was as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, however.

"Reading and studying will be no help to you here, Miss Granger. Either you can do it or you can't. Now, I want you to let go of your emotions and clear your mind."

Hermione took a deep breath and attempted to empty her mind. It proved more difficult to do that she expected, with all the nervous fluttering she felt in her stomach, but after several long moments she felt that her mind was sufficiently clear. She looked up and met his eyes.

"Are you ready?" he asked and she nodded. "Very well, on the count of three. One… two…three. _Legilimens!_"

She was surprised with the amount of force he used and it overwhelmed her. She suddenly saw herself as a young child with a group of school girls laughing at her… She was crying in the girls bathroom with the troll bursting in… She was looking around the corner, a mirror in her hand… She was staggering under the weight of the books in her third year as she used the time turner. And then suddenly, it was all gone and she was leaning over, gasping for breath.

"That was pathetic, Miss Granger. I would have expected more from you," Severus sneered. "You _must_ keep your head clear or the Dark Lord will be able to see everything. He will know all."

Hermione nodded and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart. She forced all the thoughts to the back of her mind and looked up at him again.

"Are you ready?" he asked and again she nodded. "_Legilimens!"_

She was standing at her grandmother's grave, crying… She was fighting the Death Eaters at the Department of Magic… She was dancing with Victor Krum at the Yule Ball… Slowly, she fought with herself, trying to keep her emotions under control, and as she did, she noticed the memories becoming a little dimmer and Severus a little clearer. She began trying to force him out of her mind and then she suddenly saw her and Ron arguing in their sixth year. She cried out in surprise and now, the memories were flashing before her again. When they stopped, she saw that she had fallen out of the chair on to her hands and knees. She kneeled there panting for a moment, trying to force her tears back. She should have known he would use the memories of Ron to his advantage.

Severus stood and walked over to her. "You cannot allow your emotions to distract you," he said, his voice cold and hard. "The Dark Lord will use that to his advantage."

Hermione nodded, still leaned over on her knees. After a long moment, she pulled herself up and sat back onto the chair. "I'm ready," she said meeting his eyes.

Severus looked at her with a small amount of surprise showing on his face. He had expected her to back down. He returned to his seat as well. "Very well. _Legilimens!"_

Again, the memories flooded before her. She was arguing with Ron at the Yule Ball… She was kissing Ron last summer at Bill and Fleur's wedding… She and Ron were sitting together crying at Dumbledore's funeral. With this memory, she noticed that suddenly Severus was much clearer and the memories had faded some, almost as if he was distracted. She tried to use that to her advantage. She attempted to guide him to the memories that she wanted him to see. She was sitting at Bill's bedside after the battle at Hogwarts… She was standing outside Severus's office as Professor Flitwick came rushing in.

With each one, the memories became slightly dimmer and Severus came more into focus. Suddenly Severus let up again and, although she was breathing hard, he was the one that was pale and shaking.

"How…how did you know to do that?" he asked once he had regained his composure.

"I don't know," Hermione said honestly. "I saw that the memory of Dumbledore's funeral was upsetting to you, so I tried to guide you to other memories that might have the same effect."

"Well, that was a decent enough try," Severus said. It was the closest thing to a compliment Hermione had ever got from him. "Perhaps we should try again. This time, however, I won't go easy on you."

Hermione shuddered to herself thinking that she was in trouble if he had been easy on her, but she looked him in the eye and waited.

"One…two…three…_ Legilimens!"_

She was sitting at Ron's bedside after he had been poisoned… She was fighting at Riddle Manor… Ron was giving her a Christmas present, his face red with embarrassment…

Hermione forced the emotions that went with those memories away, concentrating on Severus as he maintained eye contact. She tried to force him elsewhere in her mind. She was hexing Severus in the Shrieking Shack… She was in the Pensieve watching the memory of his Unbreakable Vow…She was looking at him standing next to Bellatrix Lestrange at Riddle Manor.

Severus broke the eye contact. Again, he looked pale and disturbed and suddenly there appeared a table with two goblets on it. Picking up one of the goblets, he drank it down quickly. He motioned to Hermione to do the same. She picked hers up and saw that there was just water in it. It was cold and clear and she was surprised to realize how thirsty she had become.

They continued to practice throughout the rest of the morning. Sometimes Hermione successfully managed to either push Severus out of her mind, or redirect him to thoughts of her own choosing. Other times he would find memories so painful or intense, that she could not keep the emotions away. Finally, after one particularly painful memory of a day she and Ron had spent together just a few weeks before, he stopped and, when she had composed herself enough to straighten up and look at him, he did not take his chair again.

"You need to eat," he said shortly. "It is lunch time. I suggest you take advantage of it and rest for a while. I will meet you back here in three hours."

Hermione was surprised he was giving her so much time, but said nothing while she hurried out of the room. Severus watched her go and, as the door shut behind her, sank back into his chair wearily. He had not expected for this to be as hard on him as it was on her, but she clearly had a gift for leading him straight to memories that could unsettle him.

* * *

Hermione made her way down to the Great Hall as fast as her legs could carry her. As she reached it, she heard the faint buzz of voices inside. Pushing open the doors, she saw much of the Order was inside, chatting and eating their lunch. Molly was the first to see her and she hurried over.

"Hermione, dear, are you alright?" she asked pulling Hermione into a hug and then leading her over to a table heaped with food. "You look pale as a ghost."

"I'm okay," she said sitting down next to Susan Bones and smiling across the table to Harry and Ginny. "My head hurts a little, but that's to be expected isn't it?"

Susan looked over at her with a sympathetic expression. "How did it go?" she asked, taking a bite of chicken. Ginny was passing Hermione food and she was piling it onto her plate. She felt as though she'd never been so hungry in her life.

"The session went well," Hermione said taking a drink of pumpkin juice. "I think Snape is having as hard a time with it as I am. I keep trying to show him memories that he wouldn't like."

"Wow!" Harry said, looking clearly impressed. "I never had that much control over my emotions. You must be really good."

"Well, I don't feel as if I'm good. He has a knack for finding memories that are the most…upsetting." She didn't want to go into any more detail and after one glance at Harry he knew better than to ask anything more. Instead everyone concentrated on the food in front of them. Hermione's head began to feel a little better as she ate and her mood began to improve. After she finished eating, she excused herself so she could lie down for a while before she had to meet with Severus again.

The rest of the day was long and brutal, almost as much for Severus as it was for Hermione. They continued though, even as the afternoon passed well into the evening. Hermione was determined to be successful in finally giving the Order the chance they needed with Voldemort. She never complained and never asked to stop. Every time Severus was sure that she could not go any further, she would pull herself back up and declare that she was ready. He tried accessing a variety of memories to find the ones that she had the hardest time defending herself from. It seemed memories of her parents and Ron Weasley were the most intense for her and so he went for them again and again. Finally, however, it became clear that he was going to have to be the one to stop them for the day.

"One more time," he said as she pulled her hair back from her face. It had fallen out earlier and she had just now noticed. "Then you will need to go and rest. It will do no good if you are too exhausted tomorrow."

Hermione nodded, establishing eye contact with him. "I'm ready," she said steadily.

"Very well. _Legilimens!"_

He knew right where to go to get the memories that she had the most trouble defending. She and Ron were cuddled on the couch at the Burrow… She and Ron were holding hands by the Black Lake… She and Ron in his room at the Burrow making love for the first time…

"NO!" she heard herself scream as she felt herself begin to gag, falling to the floor. She no longer had control over her body and she felt herself heave, relieving itself of her lunch. Finally she laid still, tears falling out of her eyes as she tried to push away the memories that had been brought to the surface.

"_Evanesco_," said Severus, and the floor was once again clean. Walking over to Hermione, he handed her a handkerchief. Taking it, she muttered her thanks and finally raised her eyes to look at him.

"I think," he said evenly, regardless of his pale face, "that there are some memories that would be best for me to avoid."

She nodded and he turned around walking toward the door. "Seven o'clock tomorrow morning," he said and then he was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Hermione laid in bed thinking about all that had happened; all the memories that Severus had brought to the surface. Memories that she never wanted to relive again and memories that she wished she could live over many, many times. As painful as it was to be forced to recall the memories of Ron, she wished more than anything she could have those days back. Without meaning to, her thoughts drifted back to Harry's capture and subsequent rescue. For the last several days she kept thinking that there had been something about that day that she had missed; almost as if there was something just out of her line of sight that would shed some additional information on her situation.

Feeling a sudden surge of energy, she jumped out of bed and threw a robe over her nightgown, grabbing her wand off her nightstand. She slipped out of her door and made her way down to the empty common room. She wished that she had Harry's invisibility cloak; she didn't want to run into anyone who might ask where she was going. Luck was on her side, however, and she made it to the Great Hall without running into anyone, although she did have to run quickly to avoid being seen by Bill who was standing guard at the Entrance Hall.

She slipped into the Great Hall and walked down the long length of it to the room she and Harry had been in the day before. Breathing a sigh of relief she saw that the Pensieve was still sitting on the table on the far side of the room. She walked over to it, looking down into its murky depths. Taking a deep breath, Hermione raised her wand up to her head. After Harry had first told them about the Pensieve, she had rushed down to the library to read everything she could about it. She understood the theory behind removing a memory, but she had never done it before. She hoped she could do it correctly, only having the knowledge from her studies to rely upon. Hermione thought very hard about the memory in question and was nearly giddy with excitement when she saw a long silvery strand of memory attached to her wand. She gently placed the strand into the Pensieve and swirled it. Looking down she saw the inside of Riddle Manor.

It took fighting against every instinct she had to actually lean down to touch her face to the surface. Although she knew that it was only a memory, there was an irrational fear that she would find herself somehow having to fight again. Before she could fully think out her fears, she felt herself falling down and landing in the middle of the entrance hall of Riddle Manor. They must have just arrived because no sooner had she landed she heard Voldemort speaking.

"So you see, Harry, you are going to have the pleasure of watching your friends die before I kill you. I'm just disappointed there aren't more of them. Perhaps you aren't as well loved as I had thought."

Instead of moving over towards herself and Ron, she moved back to where Snape was standing. He was as tense as one would expect when they are about to go into battle, but his gaze seemed to be resting on the other Death Eaters, and not the Order members. When the battle broke out, Hermione saw him shoot a spell towards Tonks, but it was well high of her head and then he immediately moved backwards, into the shadows of the room where he could not be easily seen.

Hermione followed him to his spot in the corner and once there, she saw that he could observe all of the activity in the room. What she saw next truly shocked her. He continued firing off curses, but they weren't hitting any Order members. Instead, they were hitting Death Eaters. In the confusion, no one seemed to have noticed what he was doing, but he seemed to be clearing the way for Ron, who was quickly making his way across the room. Suddenly Bellatrix stepped in front of them, blocking the view and Snape moved to the side, closer to where Ron was standing.

She saw herself run over to help Ron out and it was a strange sensation hearing herself say, "You go free Harry and I'll continue here."

Suddenly, from the other side of the room, it appeared that Antonin Dolohov had taken notice of her and, intent upon finishing his work from the Department of Mysteries, was raising his wand to fire off a curse at her. Snape seemed to have seen it as well and crouched down where he would not be seen. He then reached forward and pushed on her legs, knocking her to the ground just as the curse was fired.

Hermione supposed it was a good thing she was in such a state of shock watching this, because she completely missed Ron's murder. All she could do was stare at Severus Snape, who had crawled back into the corner of the room and then proceeded to _Stupify_ himself.

She was still completely dumbfounded as she found herself back in the small room, staring down at the Pensieve. She put the memory back in her head as if in a dream and stumbled out of the room. As she paused outside the doors of the Great Hall trying to decide what to do, she felt her stomach rumble with hunger and she remembered that she had not eaten in quite a while.

'_Perhaps if I eat something and have a cup of tea, this will all make a bit more sense.'_

* * *

Without giving it a second thought, she headed first for the library and then down to the kitchen.

Severus sat in his old quarters in the dungeons drinking a fire whiskey. He had not come out of his rooms since he had left the Room of Requirement, oblivious to the rumbling of his stomach. Instead he tried to ignore everything in favourof the sweet oblivion of the fire whiskey. Unfortunately for him, it did not appear to be helping. He could not get the images from the day out of his mind.

'_Why couldn't I have left it alone?_' he thought to himself. The last thing he needed to see was the Weasley boy, red faced and panting over the Know-it-all Granger. It was stomach turning. It was disgusting. He dismissed the idea that it was heartbreaking. He didn't have a heart, anyway. He also tried to forget the memories of himself that she had forced him to endure. He had always wondered about Dumbledore's funeral, but he had never wanted to see it for himself; the rows and rows of mourners and the white tomb.

He grew restless sitting in front of the fire and stood up, pacing back and forth in the room, feeling as if he were caged. Finally, he couldn't stand the claustrophobic feeling any longer and decided to head down to the kitchen to find something to eat. It was late and he knew that all the Order members would have long since headed to bed, leaving him to eat in undisturbed peace.

So, it was with a large amount of frustration and a small amount of nervousness that he saw Hermione sitting at a table in the kitchen with a sandwich in front of her and a book in her hand. She looked up as she heard him enter and her face turned a dark shade of red.

_'Good,'_ he thought to himself. '_Perhaps if she is properly embarrassed, she won't speak to me.'_

He could not know the thoughts going through her head at that moment; that she was staring at a man that she had spent the last year hating and who had perhaps saved her life. Hermione was determined to put those thoughts behind her though, and she bravely put a smile on her face.

"Hello, Severus," she said setting the book down. He saw the title, _The Meeting of Minds, A Comprehensive Study of Legilimency and Occlumency_. He refrained from rolling his eyes. He should have known.

"Would you like to join me?" she pointed to the chair across from her. He could think of no excuse as to why not so he walked over, roughly pulling out the chair and sitting down. He raised his eyebrows as he looked at her plate of food. She was eating an enormous turkey sandwich, a bowl of soup, an apple, a very large piece of tart and she was well into a pitcher of pumpkin juice. She blushed a little when she saw him looking at the vast amount of food in front of her.

"House-elves," she muttered. "They can't help themselves."

Severus wanted to comment that she didn't appear to be having any problem eating it all, but instead he picked up the apple sitting by her plate, sliced it using a severing charm, and began to eat it. She stared at him hard for a moment as if she was going to say something, but then thought better of it and returned to her book.

A house-elf came over begging to serve him and so he requested a bowl of soup and a cup of tea. It appeared to be a little disappointed that he hadn't asked for more, but no sooner had he blinked than the food was in front of him. They sat in silence eating. Hermione continued to try to read, but having Severus sit across from her was distracting. When she found she had read the same page three times and still didn't know what it said, she gave up and put the book down for good.

"Why aren't you resting?" he asked as he drank the last of his tea and a house-elf came to bring him more. "You'll be worthless tomorrow if you don't."

"I tried, but I couldn't," she said giving him an appraising look. "I have just been re-examining some of my memories in the Pensieve."

This took Severus by surprise. "And what possessed you to do such a thing?"

"Well, for the last few days, every time I thought of Harry's escape, it seemed that I had missed something. I thought I would use the Pensieve to see if I was right."

Severus cursed silently to himself. He should have known…

"You are the reason we escaped so easily," she said in her usual forthright manner. "How is it that you were able to curse so many of your fellow Death Eaters and get away with it? Did no one see what you were doing? Didn't anyone notice you pushing me over?"

Severus flushed. She had apparently done a thorough revision of that memory.

"No," he said. "When they saw me stupefied… I assume you saw that as well… everyone just assumed that I had been out for the entire time. People see what they expect to see, even the Dark Lord. He is still human, after all, as hard as it is to believe. No one expected to see me help the Order of the Phoenix rescue Harry Potter."

She nodded and said nothing more. They continued to sit in silence for several more minutes, sipping drinks and lost in their own thoughts.

"I am going to have to insist that you get some rest," Severus finally said, returning his gaze to her.

"I don't think I can," Hermione said with a sigh.

Severus stared at her. "Self-pity will get you nowhere with the Dark Lord. He is not going to show you mercy because your boyfriend died."

Hermione's eyes snapped back to his, anger flaring in them. Why did he always have to be so cruel? "I never asked you for mercy."

"Well that's good because you're not going to get it," he said through clenched teeth. "This entire mission is up to you."

"Yes! It is!" Hermione said raising her voice. "So why don't you try helping me instead of running me down? How would you like to do this? How would you like to have to face him like this?"

"WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK I'VE BEEN DOING ALL THIS TIME?" he shouted, making her take a step back. "You are not going to get any sympathy from me, Miss Granger. I never received any from anyone else."

He spun away from her, his robes flying behind him, storming out of the kitchen. Hermione took several breaths to steady her racing heart and then left, hoping to find some sort of rest in her bed.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: A big thanks to my beta, RenitaLeandra who has done such a wonderful job- even when it meant doing the work twice._

* * *

Chapter 7

The rest of the week was agony for Hermione. She met Severus in the Room of Requirement every day from early in the morning until well past dinner time. She never ventured anywhere near the kitchens again, not wanting to repeat the experience of the first night. When he dismissed her each night, she went back to the Gryffindor common room where her friends, oftentimes including Remus and Professor McGonagall, would be waiting for her to give her comfort, support and sympathy. A part of her felt a tugging of guilt at the situation, remembering Severus's comment that he had never received such sympathy. She told herself that perhaps if he had just been a little kinder he would have had similar support, but it still bothered her.

Twice he had left their lessons suddenly when his Dark Mark had burned. When he had returned he was always irritable and uncommunicative, never telling anyone exactly what had been said.

Hermione's skills progressed quickly as the week went on, until finally, Severus could not penetrate her mind at all. Other times she would let him in only to show him exactly what she wanted to be seen. He often tried to catch her off balance at the times when they were not supposed to be practicing. It became commonplace for Hermione to suddenly find herself forcing him out of her mind during dinner, Order meetings, or when she would accidentally make eye contact with him. Finally, five days after their first lesson, he stopped her in the afternoon and told her they were done. Hermione felt a surge of nervousness.

"When…when will we leave?" she asked, feeling her heart try to beat itself out of her chest.

"Within the next day," Severus said shortly. He had just arrived back that morning after being at Riddle Manor all night. He had been especially cross and tried harder than ever to throw her off her guard during their lessons. Hermione had been able to stop him every time, however, and apparently that was all the convincing he needed.

"We will meet with Minerva and Remus to discuss exactly what our plan is. This evening we must practice you leading me where you want the Dark Lord to go in your mind."

Hermione swallowed hard but nodded. She had somehow expected more time. Severus led her out of the Room of Requirement and down to the Entrance Hall. These days there was almost always at least one Order member standing guard at the front doors. Sure enough, Sturgis Podmore was seen by the doors, looking out onto the grounds, wand drawn.

"Where are Minerva and Remus?" Severus asked him shortly. For a moment it appeared Sturgis wasn't going to answer him. He had a look of anger and disdain on his face and Hermione was once again reminded of the fact that most Order members had no reason to believe his innocence, regardless of what Harry had said.

"Minerva's gone; had to go to London to meet with the Minister. She's getting ready for the start of term next week," Sturgis said, turning his attention back to the Hogwarts grounds. "Remus is in Gryffindor's common room."

Severus gave a sigh of irritation. Because so many the Order members had at one time been a Gryffindor, their old common room was where most of them had felt comfortable staying.

_'Not bloody fair to the rest of us. As if we want to be stuck in that red and gold monstrosity,'_ he thought to himself. But rather than say anything more, he pulled Hermione by the arm and they worked their way up to the seventh floor. All Order members had the passwords to all the common rooms at Hogwarts, for security reasons, and he had been given them on the first day he had returned.

"Madam Pudifoot's," he snarled at the Fat Lady. Hestia Jones should not be allowed to choose passwords again. The Fat Lady said nothing and seemed a little put off that a Slytherin would be allowed to enter, but she let them pass. As they entered the common room, Hermione saw Remus and Tonks sharing a chair close to the fire. Harry and Ginny were curled up together on the couch and Susan and Luna were looking rather embarrassed at the others while trying to read on the other side of the room. They all turned when Hermione and Severus entered the room. Hermione sat down on the couch as Ginny and Harry disentangled themselves.

"How is it going?" Remus asked as Tonks got up to sit down on the floor.

"She's ready," Severus said.

Remus's eyebrows raised in surprised. "Already? I'm impressed Hermione!"

Severus rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, she's bloody brilliant. We have more important things to discuss, however. In private." He looked pointedly at the rest of the group.

"I'm not going anywhere," Harry said heatedly.

"Potter can stay, but the rest of them," he waved toward the otherwomen, "have to go."

Ginny's face turned pink with anger and she opened her mouth to speak, but Susan shook her head.

"Come on, Ginny. Why don't we all go down to the lake for a bit? It's a nice day out," Susan said, motioning toward the door.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Tonks said brightly. "What do you think Luna?"

Luna was looking sceptical. "Well, I suppose; as long as there's no Three-fin Waterspikes in there. I thought I saw one the last time I was by the lake."

Hermione did her best not to roll her eyes and Harry looked away quickly, a look of amusement in his eyes. But the four women left quickly and Severus moved to sit down in a chair by the fire.

"What's going on?" Remus asked.

"The Dark Lord is aware of Potter's attempts to find his Horcruxes," Severus said. The rest of the group looked at each other, alarmed. "There is no need to panic yet, however. As far as the Dark Lord knows, the only one that has been destroyed is the diary. The situation with Miss Granger has given us an excellent opportunity to mislead him on the search. She will need to plant the thought in her head that none of the Horcurxes have been found and that Potter lacks any leads."

"Well, that's about the truth," Harry said, sounding frustrated. "We've only been able to find the locket."

"I am hoping that once I am back in the Dark Lord's good graces, I will have access to more information; perhaps where he is hiding them."

"And what about Hermione?" Harry asked. "Even if she is successful, how long will she be forced to be captive? We cannot just feed her to the wolves…" he cut off suddenly, blushing as he realized what he just said. "Sorry Remus. I didn't mean…"

"I know, Harry," Remus said kindly, although his face had drained of colour at Harry's remark. "But it is a valid point. We cannot just send Hermione off to You-Know-Who with no plan to get her back."

"I am working on that," Severus said.

"Working on it?" Harry said, growing frustrated. "We need to have a plan to get her out of there. You can't just leave her there!"

"I will _not_ just leave her there," Severus shouted and they all jumped. "I will find a way."

"Please," Hermione said finally speaking up, "don't speak to me as if I'm not in the room. Harry, I made the decision to do this despite the risks…"

"You made the decision because of Ron!" Harry shouted. "You're not thinking straight! You can't just go waltzing into Death Eater headquarters and expect a soft bed and fine food. I was in there. I know what they do!"

"Harry," Hermione said calmly, "Severus has said that he will find a way out and I trust him. We must all trust him."

Harry did not look like he trusted him in the least, but he said nothing more and the four began to discuss exactly where Hermione would lead Voldemort in her mind. After more than an hour of discussion, they finally came up with wha would be easily believable and that would show Voldemort virtually nothing of their true strategy. As they were finalizing their plans, Tonks, Ginny, Susan and Luna returned from the lake.

"Enough's enough," Ginny said as they came in. "If you still have things to discuss, you can find somewhere else to do it."

"We're done," Remus said as they all stood up. "It's about dinner time. Why don't we all head down to the Great Hall?"

They all filed out, however as they reached the ground floor, Severus looked as if he was going to continue on to the dungeons.

"Aren't you going to join us, Severus?" Remus asked. The other man turned around.

"I don't have much interest in being friendly," Severus growled.

"Well, come anyway," Remus said, sounding more forceful than friendly. "It would do everyone good to see you as one of us."

Severus seemed to understand what he was saying and he returned to the group to join them in the Great Hall. Hermione was surprised to see that virtually all of the Order was there. Tonks grinned a little sheepishly.

"I know a party isn't really appropriate, but I thought it would be nice for you to have one last nice meal before you…" she cut off, no longer grinning. "Anyway, I thought you might like to see everyone."

Hermione smiled through the tears that had suddenly formed in her eyes and gave Tonks a quick hug. She allowed them to pull her into the room and -- for once -- everyone sat at the same table, which was an unusual occurrence to say the least. The house-elves had prepared all of her favourite dishes and, as had been the case since she started her Occlumency lessons, she was ravenous, eating several plates full and enjoying the company of all her friends around her.

Severus, however, sat as far away from Hermione as he could manage. He had felt a strange pain in his chest since their discussion in the Gryffindor common room. He could not remember the last time someone had placed such blind faith in him, but he was quite sure her faith had been misplaced. He found he had no appetite for food and left his plate mostly untouched.

Finally the evening came to an end and everyone insisted Hermione had to get her rest. She went up to the dorm and gathered her things together. She would not be returning to Hogwarts since the new term was about to start. The Order members that had been staying there were returning to Grimmauld place and Tonks and Susan had offered to take her belongings with them. Only Ginny would be returning to Hogwarts, but as a student in order to finish her seventh year. Finally she tried to lay down, however she found she was having a hard time relaxing. After an eternity of tossing and turning, and when she could hear the heavy breathing of everyone else in the room, she finally threw the covers back and decided to go down to the kitchen for some tea to soothe her nerves.

She pulled her robes on quickly and snuck out of the common room quietly, where she saw Neville asleep at a table, Herbology books strewn across it. As she made her way to the kitchen, she told herself that she was not doing this in the hopes of running into Severus again. Yet she had noticed how withdrawn he had been all evening and how he had not touched his food. She had felt bad for him, thinking back to their conversation after her first day of lessons. He was not the friendliest person she had ever known, but he still deserved the kindness and respect of the Order members. He deserved to have people worry about him too.

As she tickled the pear and the door to the kitchen opened, she saw him sitting at a table, a steaming mug in his hand and his head bowed, almost as though he were sleeping. He jumped and turned suddenly, his eyes darkening as he saw her.

"You should not have come down here," he said standing up and walking toward her.

"Why not?" Too late she noticed his wand was in his hand.

He looked at her for a long moment. "I'm sorry, Hermione, but it will be better this way," he said quietly and then he suddenly raised his wand toward her.

_"Stupefy!"_


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Thank you to RenitaLeandra as always, and also to my newest beta (I get two!!) Keladry Lupin. Also thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing! This is obviously AU since Deathly Hallows. I'm sure that comes as a big shock..._

* * *

Chapter 8

Hermione first became conscious to the feeling of a kick in her side. She tried to muffle a groan and open her eyes, but they were having trouble obeying her.

"Really, Wormtail, have you now resorted to beating up on unconscious girls?" she heard Severus say with a sneer. "How pathetic."

"I don't understand why we don't just kill her and get it over with," she heard the voice she recognized as Peter Pettigrew and suppressed a shudder.

"Honestly, now, what fun would that be?" she heard a female voice and knew it was Bellatrix Lestrange. "I'm looking forward to spending some…quality time with her."

"I'm sure you are, Bella," she heard Severus say with what sounded like amusement. "Really, it's a shame you don't have more opportunities to use your talents."

She heard footsteps walking over towards her and a black boot turned her over on to her back. She looked up into the hard face of Bellatrix.

"Oh look, the Mudblood is awake. Good. Now the fun can begin."

Hermione looked around wildly. She was desperately trying to remember just how she was supposed to behave, but the surge of fear was almost debilitating. She felt someone behind her pull her to her feet.

"Where…where am I?" she managed to gasp out.

"Where do you think?" Severus said walking around to stand in front of her. He was standing very close and she tried to back up but someone was holding her from behind. "Next time you should be more careful where you wander on the Hogwarts grounds. Didn't you know that there are monsters that roam in the night?"

Hermione swallowed hard and tried to turn away, she could feel her entire body shaking. Somehow this was not what she had imagined when she had agreed to do this.

"Bring her here," she heard a voice come from behind where Severus was standing. For a moment she saw his eyes flicker with something…fear? Nervousness? She wasn't sure but somehow it was reassuring. No sooner had she digested this thought and he roughly grabbed her by the arm, pulling her forward. They came to a halt in front of Lord Voldemort. He reached out with a hand and grasped her face tightly in his long fingers.

"So, Severus has brought me Potter's little friend. A fine gift indeed and one that will be…rewarded," his red eyes slid toward Severus who bowed in thanks. "Potter's overdeveloped sense of heroism will surely bring him here in a desperate attempt to rescue you."

Hermione swallowed hard. "Harry…Harry will not risk the war just for me," she managed to gasp out. She felt a hard slap across her face and saw Bellatrix standing next to Voldemort, her hand raised.

"Speak to the Dark Lord with the respect he deserves, Mudblood!" she snarled.

"Now, now, you will have plenty of time for that later," Voldemort said sitting back in his chair. "After I get all the information I need from her."

Severus tightened his hold on her right arm and she felt someone reach over and grab her left. She looked over and saw Antonin Dolohov.

"I'm hoping I get another go at you," he said with an evil smile. "It was a pity you managed to escape me the last time."

Instinctively she tried to struggle against them with no success. They forced her forward another step and Dolohov pressed hard on her shoulder, forcing her down on to her knees. Once again Voldemort reached forward, grabbing her face and forcing her to look him in the eye. Although he said nothing, she could feel him entering her mind. Instinct took over and she gently guided him through to the false memories that she wanted him to find; the ones that he thought he was finding on his own. She did it so carefully, and with real unimportant memories interspersed that he did not seem to notice what she was doing.

She saw Harry first telling her and Ron about the Horcruxes, but not when he told them Dumbledore had destroyed one… She saw Harry telling her about finding the false locket in the cave, but not when they had found the real one. She steered his probing away from any contact she had had with Severus in the last week and their search for the Horcruxes the last year, aside from their failures.

She was not sure how long she knelt there, Voldemort's red eyes boring into hers. It could have been minutes, hours, days; she could not tell. It seemed that he explored every inch of her mind and it took all the energy she had to keep her emotions in check and not allow him to overpower her.

Eventually he let go, breaking the contact with her. She collapsed onto the floor, barely aware of her surroundings. She had no idea how much time had passed from when she had met Severus in the kitchen. For all she knew, it had been several days. She passed in and out of consciousness, mostly unaware of any activity around her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought she heard Voldemort speaking to Severus.

"I feel that she is holding something back from me," she heard him say. "Perhaps you could inform me as to how she could have learned Occlumency?"

"My Lord, as I have previously mentioned, I was forced by Dumbledore to teach Occlumency to Potter. I did my best to make it as difficult as possible, but apparently he learned enough to teach it to the Mudblood." Severus sounded unconcerned and even slightly bored, if that was possible.

"Perhaps. I want you to revive her."

"_Rennervate,"_ she heard Severus say and she felt herself become more lucid She groaned out loud, trying to drag herself up from the floor.

"Pick her up," Voldemort said. She felt someone pick her up. She turned her head and saw a great hulking man, who looked vaguely like Gregory Goyle. She wondered if the man was his father.

"Well, Mudblood," Voldemort said moving closer to her, "I feel there are things you are not telling me. Perhaps you would care to share them now?"

Again Hermione felt him entering her mind and again she fought him back, although with more effort than before. After a long while, she could feel his frustration growing and he broke off the eye contact.

"Very well; if you won't cooperate, perhaps we can find another way." He turned away and looked at Severus who was standing to the side, a sneer plastered on his face. "Severus, how would you like to give Potter's little friend a formal welcome to our headquarters? I wonder if she has ever experienced the Cruciatus."

Hermione's eyes widened with fear. She had never had the nerve to ask Harry what it felt like, but she knew it was intolerable.

"My Lord," Bellatrix cut in, "wouldn't you rather that I did it? After all, I do have a special talent for this."

"My dear Bella," Severus said with a smirk. "You have a talent for a great many things, but would you really deprive me of this opportunity? After all, I have never been able to get my hands on Potter, but the chance to curse his best friend? Well, that is an enjoyable thought indeed."

Bellatrix's eyes narrowed at Severus but she said nothing to disagree. Instead she turned her attention back to Voldemort who seemed to be enjoying their exchange.

"Very well, Severus. Get on with it then."

Severus leered at Hermione for a long moment, seemingto enjoy the opportunity very much. He raised his wand towards her.

"_Crucio!"_ he yelled, his face contorting as he did.

Hermione had never imagined that such pain could exist. It seemed that her eyes were going to burst out of her head. Every nerve ending was screaming. Her legs gave out from under her and the only thing holding her up was the man who had a hold of her arms. She could hear screaming, but it seemed unreal that those horrible sounds were coming from her. After several excruciating minutes, he lifted the curse and she was left panting, tears falling unchecked down her face.

"Now, Mudblood, perhaps you will be more inclined to share your knowledge," Voldemort said. Hermione knew she could no longer hold him out of her mind and she squeezed her eyes shut hoping to keep him away.

"Open your eyes!" he spat at her, but she continued to keep them closed. "If that is the way you would like it, then perhaps, Severus, you could continue to persuade her."

Again, she heard him yell, "C_rucio!"_

Her eyes flew open and her body felt like it was on fire. She could hardly breathe. It was all Voldemort needed, however, and she felt him in her mind. She tried to fight him off as best she could, but she saw her, Ron and Harry destroying the locket. She saw them discussing where Hufflepuff's cup might be.

Suddenly it all stopped; both the pain and Voldemort's use of Legilimency.

"So, this is what you were trying to keep from me." Although Voldemort's voice was as calm and cold as it had been all along, there was a tension to it that Hermione had not heard before. "Potter believes he has destroyed a Horcrux. Severus! Lock the Mudblood up until I decide what to do with her."

"Yes, my Lord," Severus said bowing. He took Hermione by the arm and led her out of the room. She stumbled trying to keep up with his quick pace as he led her through the mansion. As they passed a room, she saw bright daylight and she once again wondered what day it was and how much time had passed.

He led her down a flight of stairs to a locked door. He muttered a spell Hermione had never heard before and the door swung open to reveal a dingy room. In the corner she saw shackles and she felt her knees grow weak. He pushed her into the room and led her to the shackles. On the other side of the room she vaguely registered that there was another prisoner there, but she could not muster enough energy to wonder more about their identity. As they reached the corner, she sat down on the floor, no longer able to fight back.

As Severus locked the shackle on her left leg, he leaned close to her and whispered in her ear. "I am sorry, but Bellatrix would have killed you. It was the only way."

Hermione dared to look up at him and for the first time she saw something close to kindness in his eyes. She felt her own eyes fill with tears, but she forced them back.

He leaned over to cuff her right ankle and he whispered again. "You have done the best you could. We'll get you out." He gave her a long look before leaving the room, locking the door behind him. Hermione could no longer keep her tears back and she began to cry in earnest since she had been awoken with a kick in her side. She sat sobbing for a long time, until finally, she ran out of tears and lay huddled on the floor feeling sick and exhausted.

When Hermione finally sat up; and was wiping her eyes, she heard the chains of the person on the other side of the room. She heard them move closer to her and then she heard a familiar voice that she would never have expected.

"Granger?"

She looked over in disbelief. The other prisoner was a young man, covered in filth. His hair was shaggy and he appeared to be unshaven and malnourished. But he still somehow retained the arrogant look of a pureblood.

"Malfoy?"


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Thanks so much to RenitaLeandra and Keladry Lupin who are so great of fixing my mistakes (of which there are many) . Also thanks for all the reviews! They make my day!_

* * *

Chapter 9

"Well, well, Granger. Not so high and mighty now, are you?" Draco Malfoy sneered.

Had Hermione's situation not been so desperate, she would have found his arrogance at such a time to be highly amusing. As it was, all she could muster was a roll of her eyes.

"Honestly, Malfoy, the same could be said for you. You look worse than I do."

Draco scowled. For one glorious moment he seemed to have forgotten where he was and how long he had been there. He retreated back to his corner, resting his head against the wall.

"So what are you doing here?" Hermione asked, intrigued that Hogwarts' biggest bully was now covered in filth in Voldemort's dungeons.

"What do you think? This is how the Dark Lord repays those who fail him."

Hermione's eyes widened. "You've been here since…since Dumbledore…"

"Yeah," Draco said shutting his eyes as if he could also shut out the memory. "Since Dumbledore."

"So why didn't he just kill you? Why keep you locked up for this long?"

"Why should I answer any of your questions, Granger?" he asked, glaring at her, as if he suddenly remembered he wasn't supposed to be talking to her. Hermione could not find it in her to rise to the occasion.

"Don't bother, Malfoy," she said. "I was just trying to be nice. I'm guessing you haven't had much in the way of company over the last year."

Draco said nothing but continued to stare at her for several minutes, as if he was debating with himself whether he should lower himself to speak to her.

"It's good blackmail for my parents," he finally said. "They'll do whatever he wants so long as he keeps me alive."

Hermione felt a twinge of sympathy for him. This was obviously not what he was expecting when he joined the Death Eaters. "Isn't your father still in Azkaban, though?"

"Yeah, but my mum's not. He keeps sending her pictures of me. Tells her if she doesn't do what he says he'll kill me. At least, that's what the guards tell me," he said quietly. Hermione could hear the emotion in his voice and it was shocking. She supposed that even the meanest of people had someone they cared about. Clearly Draco loved his parents, regardless of how he treated his peers in school.

Saying nothing more, Hermione retreated to her corner of the room – straight across from Draco. She could feel the overwhelming fatigue of her body; muscle spasms and a bitter cold that had made its way straight through to her bones which were all due to the continuing after-effects of Snape's Cruciatus curse. Eventually, however, Hermione fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

It was late that night before Severus felt it was safe to break away from Riddle Manor without raising suspicion. He could tell the Dark Lord was suspicious of Hermione's Occlumency abilities, although the fact that he had tortured her worked in his favour. It took his own Occlumency skills to hide how sick he felt as he had done it. Still, he didn't want to draw any more attention to himself than what he already had. Finally, after everyone else had left for their homes or retreated to another room in the Manor, Severus managed to slip out the door unnoticed.

He quickly Apparated to the street in front of Grimmauld Place; he walked swiftly up the front steps and as he opened the door, nearly ran into Remus.

"Merlin's beard, Severus!" Remus said putting his wand away. "I could have hexed you!"

"I would like to have seen you try," Severus glared at him and continued his way into the front hall. He had not got far, however, when Harry came barging through, Ginny and Neville close behind.

"Oh good, the cavalry's here," he said under his breath.

"Where have you been?" Harry demanded, storming up to Severus. "It has been two days and we haven't heard a word!"

"It is not as easy to come and go from Riddle Manor as it is Grimmauld Place, Potter," he said crossly. "And I didn't think you would appreciate me leaving Miss Granger in the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange and Wormtail. I had to wait until the time was right."

"And why did you take her to You-Know-Who that way, instead of sticking to the plan? Tonks was frantic when she realized Hermione had never gone to bed."

"I do not answer to you, Potter," Severus said, annoyed. They were wasting time when they could be talking about more important matters.

"It is a question that bears asking," Remus said. "Why did you sneak out in the middle of the night?"

"I felt that it would make for a more genuine response to the situation if she were taken under less than ideal circumstances."

"You could have at least let me know," Remus said Severus merelyglared at him.

"I do not answer to you, either, _Moony." _Severus spokeRemus's nickname as if it were a foul word and, although Remus flushed, he did not respond.

"So where is she?" Ginny demanded.

"I couldn't very well just take her back out again. She's being held at the Manor." He saw Harry open his mouth and he cut him off. "No, I'm not going to leave her there. I am only staying long enough to relay the important information and then I'll go back."

"Come on," Remus said, pulling Snape further inside. "I will call an emergency Order meeting. Hopefully we can get as many people here as possible."

An hour later, Severus was relaying to everyone what had happened when Hermione had been brought before Voldemort. Harry had been in a rage, but the combined efforts of Remus, Professor McGonagall and Arthur had kept him from using his wand.

"So," he said as he was concluding, "I believe that for the most part, this has worked. Miss Granger has created enough of a distraction to buy me more time to get information from the Dark Lord regarding the Horcruxes. He is clearly disturbed that at least one more has been destroyed, and he may give me some clues as to where the rest have been hidden."

"And in the meantime?" Bill asked. "What about Hermione?"

"As long as the Dark Lord feels that she has some information yet to give, or that Potter might try to rescue her, he will keep her alive. If nothing else, she is providing…" he paused and his eyes slid towards Harry as if he was unsure if he should continue. "She is providing entertainment."

Harry's face grew a dangerous shade of red and he bolted up from his chair. Before anyone, including Severus, could react, he had tackled him onto the floor and was punching him in the face.

"YOU BASTARD!" he yelled. "WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO HER?"

Arthur and Bill managed to pull Harry off and Severus quickly stood up, pulling his wand out of his robes.

"Get a hold of yourself, Potter," he said wiping a bit of blood from the corner of his mouth, "or I will have to do it for you. You never could control your emotions. What I meant, was that they enjoy having a Mud…Muggle-born around to hex. Nothing serious; the Dark Lord doesn't want her permanently incapacitated."

Harry shrugged off the other two men and stormed out of the room, leaving silence in his wake.

"Severus," Remus said quietly, "she is alright isn't she?"

"More or less. She held up better than I expected against the Dark Lord. It took him three tries before he broke through to any meaningful memories."

"Well, she really is a very bright witch," Remus said with a sad expression on his face, "whether you ever gave her credit for it or not."

Severus tried to ignore the sinking feeling he had had in his stomach since two nights previous when he had Stupified Hermione. Respect and admiration were not emotions he was used to feeling and, if he were being honest with himself, not something he felt comfortable with. Yet as he had stood in Riddle Manor, watching her go toe to toe with the Dark Lord, he couldn't keep those feelings from surfacing.

"I should get back," Severus said, realizing that Remus was staring at him. "Bellatrix was a little too excited at the idea of a new prisoner to torture."

Remus paled at the thought and nodded vigorously. "Very well."

Severus began to leave the room. The buzz of discussion had grown steadily louder by the time he heard someone call him from behind.

"Severus!" Professor McGonagall called out walking swiftly towards him.

"Yes, Minerva?" he replied impatiently.

"May I speak with you a moment?"

Severus inclined his head in agreement and led Professor McGonagall out into the front hall. "Only a moment. I do not think it is wise for me to be away for much longer."

"Severus," she said, clearly anxious, "I am doubting now whether we made the right decision…with Miss Granger…"

"I believe it is a little late to be second guessing ourselves," he retorted sharply as they walked together towards the door.

"I am aware of that. Just…try to remember, she is only a child. Whatever happens, please protect her."

"A child?" Severus said raising his eyebrows. "I seem to recall that she passed her seventeenth birthday nearly two years ago now."

Minerva was becoming agitated but Severus cut her off before she could speak. "I am quite aware of Miss Granger's tender age. However, age never kept Potter out of harm's way. And as I recall, Miss Granger's first battle with Death Eaters came when she was sixteen and was in the midst of taking her O.W.L.s. Besides, had you seen her standing next to the Dark Lord last night, you would know that you had nothing to worry about. Miss Granger will survive, especially if I have anything to say about it."

He then threw his cloak around himself and stormed out the door, leaving Professor McGonagall with nothing but the sound of his footsteps as they faded away.

_That's what I'm counting on,_ she thought to herself and turned to go back into the kitchen.


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: We're moving right along now! Thanks to RenitaLeandra and Keladry Lupin for all their work!_

* * *

Chapter 10 

Hermione awoke feeling like she had been run over by the Knight Bus. Groaning, she struggled to sit up and wiped her bleary eyes with filthy hands. She saw that next to her was a crudely-shaped goblet of water. She picked it up and, although it tasted bitter and dirty, she drank it all, wishing there was more. There was a bowl of watery broth as well, and she began to slowly drink from it. She felt a certain amount of relief that apparently they meant to keep her alive for the time being, but in the back of her mind she thought how strange it was that a person could go from a normal life to utterly desperate in such a short amount of time.

She looked over towards Draco, who was watching her with interest.

"So what brings you to this lovely little corner of the world?" he asked with a trace of a smirk around his lips.

"Snape kidnapped me," she said hollowly, "as bait for Harry."

Draco gave her a strange look and Hermione had the feeling that he didn't believe her; however he didn't press her on the subject.

"So I heard about Weasley," he said callously. "I could hear the noise from down here. Snape told me all about it."

Hermione again felt tears sting her eyes but said nothing. She did not want to talk about Ron to Draco. He continued on, though.

"The Dark Lord was in a serious temper after that one," he said standing up and stretching his legs. "Ranting and raving about how Potter got away again. He said it seemed awfully funny how quickly he got away. He questioned all the Death Eaters for a long time about it; didn't seem to think they'd done enough."

Hermione again said nothing. She had no idea what Draco knew and she wasn't about to trust him. Instead she swallowed the rest of the broth, trying not to spill it in her haste. She looked back at Draco, and he was still staring at her as if she were an insect.

"Will you stop staring at me, Malfoy?" she said irritably.

"I'm just trying to figure out the real story," he said casually.

"I've already told you. If you think I would come here voluntarily, you're as mental as your aunt," Hermione snapped. She did not want him getting too curious about her situation.

Draco coloured at her remark, and it was clear from his look of disgust that he did not care much for his mother's sister anymore.

"Actually, yes, I do think you would come here voluntarily, if it would help out your precious Potter. It would be just the kind of pathetic, noble thing a Gryffindor would do." He said the words more matter-of-fact than with outright maliciousness. Then he dropped his voice to little more than a whisper. "Besides, I happen to know that Snape is still working for the Order."

Hermione's eyes widened with fear and she looked towards the door, expecting Death Eaters to come crashing in at Draco's announcement. He followed her eyes and gave a mirthless chuckle.

"Don't worry, Granger. These doors are thick enough that they can't hear us if we talk quietly enough. Trust me, I have experimented plenty with exactly what I can get away with and what I can't."

Hermione still looked nervous and was not sure if she could believe him. He didn't seem to be bothered by this and he sat back down in his corner.

"That's fine," he said drinking from his own goblet. "You don't have to tell me. I'll hear it all from Snape eventually, anyway."

The hours passed with agonizing slowness. Draco seemed to have developed a good sense of time during the year he had spent confined in the room. He informed her that it had been more than two days since she had first arrived. He then told her how everyone had beenin a frenzy when Snape had first brought her in, as if they were lions with injured prey. Hermione shuddered when she remembered how Wormtail had wanted to kill her right away.

Draco had seemed curious about the events of the past year, especially any news of Hogwarts. Again Hermione felt a bit of sympathy when she remembered how he had not even had the chance to finish school. He was still arrogant and rude, but he did not have the cruel edge to him that he once did.

After several hours of staring at the walls, punctuated only by the questions from Draco that came at further and further intervals, Hermione began to grow tired again. She slumped against the corner of the wall, drawing her legs up close to her body in the hopes of preserving some of her body heat.

She was just beginning to drift off when she heard the scrape of the door being opened. She jerked back awake, tried to scoot as far into the corner as she could. She noticed that Draco had also sat up and was looking apprehensively at the door. It was with an extreme amount of relief that Hermione saw Severus walk through the door. She saw two guards standing outside the door behind him and she forced her expression into one of fear.

"Well, Mudblood," he snarled, "The Dark Lord is once again requesting your presence." He then shut the door with a slam and walked over towards her, kneeling down so that he was eye to eye with her. He pulled a hunk of bread, a slice of cheese and a vial of some sort of potion out of his robes.

"Eat fast," he said quietly, "and drink that. It's a pain potion. You will need it tonight. I was not lying. The Dark Lord has asked me to bring you to him."

Hermione felt a sudden lurch of fear and, for a moment, thought she would not be able to eat. However, the gnawing hunger was too great and she grabbed for the food, eating with considerably less dignity than she would have liked to imagine. Severus turned around and tossed an equal portion of bread and cheese to Draco, who caught it with a smirk, as if to remind Hermione of her earlier doubts.

"Thanks!" he said as he too began to eat. "Next time, you think you could bring some roast pheasant?"

"Draco has developed an unusual sense of humour in the last year," Severus said as she finished the food and brushed the crumbs from her hands.

"I'm sorry that I failed," Hermione said in a quiet voice, her eyes downcast. "I couldn't keep the memories from him."

Severus forced her chin up so that she had to look at him. "You did not fail," he said in an equally quiet but intense voice. "You lasted longer than most wizards and witches would have. Do not ever apologize."

He gestured to the potion that she forgot she was holding and she swallowed it quickly, grimacing at the taste and handed the empty vial back to him, which he hid away. He reached down and pulled her to her feet. As he began to remove her shackles, she noticed he had a bruise on his face and his lip looked swollen.

"What happened to your face?" she whispered.

"Your bloody best friend," he said shortly, "seems to think I should be getting you out a bit quicker."

Hermione felt her heart lighten at his words and a ghost of a smile played at her lips. He noticed and his eyes softened for a moment, but then as he finished removing her shackles, his eyes grew hard and cold again.

"Let's go, Miss Granger," he said in a louder and more authoritative voice. "I don't believe you will want to be on the receiving end of the Dark Lord's bad humour."

"Good luck, Granger," Draco called from behind. "I'm still sore from his last bad mood."

He laughed to himself and Hermione was forced to wonder if he was entirely sane. Perhaps the months of torture and isolation had made him unstable. She had precious little time to worry about it; as once again she was being pulled through the Manor hallways towards Voldemort.

Severus pushed open a door, and Hermione found herself in what appeared to have once been a study. It was not the room that she had been in before and she looked around nervously. Voldemort was sitting in a high-backed chair, with Bellatrix standing close to him.

"Thank you, Severus," Voldemort said. "You may go now."

Severus hesitated for only the slightest of moments and then bowed and left the room. Hermione stood facing Voldemort and resisted the urge to try to run. Instead she stood as tall as she could; refusing to show any fear.

"I must say I am a little disappointed Potter has not yet made more of an effort to find you," Voldemort said standing and walking towards her. "Once again I seem to have overestimated the loyalties of your little band of soldiers."

Bellatrix snickered behind him. "That's what you get from a bunch of blood traitors and Mudbloods," she said, also walking up to join him. "After all, if you can't even be loyal to your own race, who can you be loyal to?"

Hermione continued to stand, still refusing to speak. Bellatrix grabbed her face, her long nails digging into Hermione's skin.

"Proud little bitch, aren't you?" she sneered. "It's about time you learned some humility."

"All in good time, Bellatrix," Voldemort said with an evil smile. "I know how much you have been looking forward to this. But first, I would like to see the rest of the Mudblood's secrets."

He towered over Hermione, forcing her to look in his cold red eyes. She immediately began to block him from entering her mind and she could see the frustration on his face. He turned away from her for several moments and when he turned back, his face was impassive again.

"Perhaps you are right, Bellatrix. Maybe it is time for her to learn a lesson in humility."

Bellatrix stepped forward, an eager expression on her face. "Perhaps you would like to beg, you filthy Mudblood?"

Hermione stood firm. "I would not lower myself to your level," she said through gritted teeth.

Bellatrix slashed her wand and it felt like a fire whipped at Hermione's face. Instinctively she reached her hand up and felt hot blood coming from a gash at her cheek.

"Do you like that?" Bellatrix asked with a smile. "Would you like more?" She whipped her wand again and Hermione felt a slash across her arm. She gasped at the pain but refused to move. Bellatrix's face was a hard mask of fury.

"YOU HORRID LITTLE MUDBLOOD!" she screamed. "YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE IN OUR WORLD!"

"Now, really," she heard a drawl coming from behind Bellatrix, "that isn't very ladylike."

As Bellatrix stood aside, Hermione saw Antonin Dolohov step forward. She tried to suppress the cold wave of terror that swept through her. He reached up, cupping her cheek with his hand. His eyes were ice and his smile made her shiver.

"Ah, my dear, I have dreamed of this since Snape first brought you here. It was such a disappointment that it was he that got to torture you first, but then I suppose he had earned it. I can't imagine being forced to teach Mudblood filth like you year after year."

"Perhaps you would like to beg now," Bellatrix said with an eager smile.

"Never!" Hermione's voice rang out, spitting on Dolohov.

Dolohov's face contorted in anger and he raised his wand. "You, my dear, are going to regret that."


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Thanks to RenitaLeandra and Keladry Lupin. Their work has made this story so much better! Also thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I appreciate them all!_

* * *

Chapter 11

Severus paced back and forth in his home on Spinner's End. He knew that he would bring too much attention to himself if he continued to stay at Riddle Manor, yet he could not bring himself to go to Grimmauld Place. He had not expected to be dismissed,and he tried not to think about what might be happening.

_They would be insane to kill her and ruin any chance of trapping Potter,_ he thought to himself. Of course sanity was not something most Death Eaters had in surplus. He wondered if she was putting up as much of a fight as she had the first time. In all his years as a Death Eater, he had never seen a young woman show such a display of bravery. _A true Gryffindor,_ he thought as he continued to glance at the clock while the minutes slowly ticked by.

Finally, just when it seemed that the night would never end, he saw the first streaks of light on the horizon. Determining that he had allowed enough time to pass, he quickly gathered up what healing and pain potions he could give her without being detected and Apparated to just outside Little Hangleton.

Because it was such an early hour, he hoped to get through the Manor with as little notice as possible. The guards outside the house gave him little notice. They were new recruits and gave the senior Death Eaters little trouble. He was pleased to see that there was only one guard outside the dungeon door and he smiled to the young man.

"Nice to see you again, Marcus," he said easily.

"Professor Snape!" Marcus Flint said smiling. "It is good to see you, sir."

"Your father must be proud, his oldest son working at Death Eater headquarters. I'm glad to see you're doing something worthwhile." He patted Marcus on the back who positively glowed with pride.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to do some pretty nasty interrogating in there," he said motioning towards the door. "Hopefully it won't take up too much of my time. But there's nothing better than an honest day's work, right?"

They both shared a laugh and Severus went through the door, shutting it as quickly as possible. The sight that greeted him turned his stomach. Hermione was curled into a foetal position, her clothing soaked in blood and her hands bound behind her back. She did not appear to be conscious and Draco was pacing back and forth nervously.

"Bloody hell!" Severus said reaching Hermione in three long strides. "How long ago did they bring her back?"

"Not long," Draco said. "Wormtail brought her in; said that Bellatrix and Dolohov got a hold of her."

Severus removed the ropes that held her wrists and carefully turned her over. Her face was a mass of cuts and bruises. She had a brutal gash on her right cheek and her left arm which had soaked through part of her robes. Although she was unconscious, her muscles twitched involuntarily from prolonged use of the Cruciatus. He cursed quietly to himself. She had obviously put up a hell of a fight. He drew his wand, running it over her, checking for internal wounds and broken bones, of which he found several, including a particularly nasty break to her leg. He mended as many of the injuries as he thought he could without raising the suspicions of the other Death Eaters.

The first conscious thought that Hermione had was that she must surely be dead. Her second thought was that if she were dead she would not be in so much pain. She groaned, trying to form words, but someone brought their hand up to her mouth.

"Don't speak," she heard a voice say. It sounded far away, as if they were in a tunnel. "Swallow this."

A vial of liquid was brought up to her mouth and she tried swallowing it, although she choked halfway through. After several moments she felt her pain ease a bit, so that she could breathe without the sharp stabbing pains in her chest. After another moment, a second vial of liquid was brought to her mouth and she swallowed this one too, a bit easier than the first.

It seemed as ifshe had laid there for an eternity, her head cradled in someone's arm. Finally, she managed to get the strength to try to open her eyes. It seemed that the light was unbearably bright and she groaned again.

"Lay still," the voice said quietly, smoothing her hair. For a confused moment Hermione thought it must be her father, but that made no sense. Again she tried opening her eyes, a little further this time, and a pair of black eyes stared back at her.

"Severus?" she said thickly, as if her tongue did not quite work.

He said nothing, but he continued to smooth her hair. It seemed a strange, kind gesture to come from him, but her mind could not process the situation.

"What did they do to you?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know," Hermione answered back closing her eyes again and trying not to think about the horror she had experienced. "I remember the Cruciatus and I think Bellatrix used _Sectumsempra_…" She felt Severus stiffen and she understood. It was he that had invented that spell. He must have taught it to Bellatrix years ago. "But most of it was nonverbal. And some of it I don't think I was conscious for."

Severus's hand tightened convulsively and he swallowed hard. He had never before felt such a strong sense of responsibility and guilt. Not even with Dumbledore's murder. After all, Dumbledore had been aware of the situation and gone into it willingly. Hermione had no way of understanding what she was agreeing to when she had allowed him to bring her here.

"I shouldn't have brought you here," he whispered. "This was a terrible mistake."

Hermione shifted so that she could look up at him. "I made the choice myself. I don't regret it. I am still hoping this will give us a chance to find out where the rest of the Horcruxes are."

"Nothing has gone the way I planned it. I should get you out while I still have the chance."

"No!" Hermione said with as much force as she could manage. "If you do that, Voldemort will know you're a spy."

"Hermione, they are going to kill you," he said staring down at her in disbelief.

"Not yet. Not while he still thinks I have information on Harry."

Severus looked at her. "You mean…"

"He didn't get anything more from me. He doesn't know how many of the Horcruxes have been destroyed."

Severus could not help but smile. "Someday you're going to have to tell me how you managed that."

Hermione smiled back at him. "Only after I get you to admit how brilliant I am." She winced in pain and Severus shifted her to a more comfortable position for both of them. He reached into his cloak and pulled out one last potion.

"A sleeping potion," he said tilting it toward her lips. "Right now the best thing you can do is rest. I will find a way to check on you later."

"What if they come for me?" she asked worriedly. "They'll know I've been given something."

"They won't come again today," Severus replied. "They will want you to heal some before they torture you again. They believe it's more effective that way."

Hermione nodded and drank the potion. She rested her head back, nestling it in the crook of his arm and after a few moments her eyes began to droop. Before sleep could claim her, though, she whispered, "Don't tell Harry. It would kill him." Severus nodded his agreement and she fell limp against him.

He was unwilling to move her, however, he knew if he stayed much longer someone would question it. He carefully laid her back on the floor and walked over to where Draco was sitting. He pulled out an apple and handed it over. Draco grabbed it and began eating while they talked.

"So, what's the plan?" Draco asked between bites of apple.

Severus frowned as it occurred to him he didn't really have a plan. Draco noticed his expression and a look of amusement crossed his face.

"Sir, I don't think I've ever seen you out of control. This must be eye opening for you." Then he grew serious as he looked over at Hermione's sleeping form. "Whatever you come up with, you better hurry it up. She won't survive much more of this. Unless, of course, you actually _did_ kidnap her, in which case your plan is working beautifully."

Severus looked at the younger man and wondered when in the past year they had stopped acting like a teacher and pupil but more as equals; perhaps when he had convinced Draco that he actually was on the right side, and that it was not the side of the Dark Lord. Draco had not needed much convincing. Being imprisoned and watching his mother being blackmailed had taught him some valuable lessons.

Draco finished the apple and gave the core back to Severus. It would never do to have someone discover the discarded remains of food that they were never supposed to have in the first place. It would cause too many questions. Suddenly Severus looked down at his arm as he felt the Dark Mark begin to burn.

"I need to go," he said shortly, and Draco nodded. "I'll check back the first chance I get. Do try to go easy on her. She can't help being so insufferable."

"Funny, you didn't seem to think she was being insufferable a few minutes ago," Draco said. Severus gave him a warning look, which he completely ignored, and left the room.

* * *

Most of the Death Eaters were already gathered by the time arrived at the gathering. He took his place close to Lord Voldemort and next to Bellatrix.

"I saw your handiwork with the Mudblood," he said with a smirk, ignoring the churning of his stomach at the thought. "I am impressed you showed such restraint."

Bellatrix smiled as if she had just been handed a great compliment. "Why thank you, Severus," she purred. "I admit, I have a tendency to get carried away, but the Dark Lord intervened before I could cause any permanent damage. Too bad, really. The impertinent little mongrel refused to grovel. She clearly needs to be shown her place."

In his mind's eye, he could imagine Hermione standing up to Bellatrix, refusing to be ashamed of her ancestry. There was a time when that would have disgusted him as well, but his years as a Death Eater had taught him that purity of blood had nothing to do with the purity of a person's soul. Yet, it was still necessary for him to continue the act.

"Yes, sadly I tried many times to show her what her place was at Hogwarts, but unfortunately I was fighting a losing battle. Dumbledore coddled her, Potter, and Weasley to the point that they were intolerable."

"Well, we got them in the end," Bellatrix said with unrestrained glee. "The blood traitor is dead, the Mudblood is captured and soon Potter will be destroyed by the Dark Lord. It is a great time in the history of the wizarding world!"

Severus smiled and nodded his agreement; however he said nothing as the Dark Lord was now requiring their attention.

"Recent developments have led me to believe that the time has come for a major strike at the heart of the wizarding world and all those who oppose us," Voldemort said rising from his chair. There was a loud buzz of excitement throughout the room. "I do not yet have the details available to share with all my loyal followers, but I feel this will be a great step that we take in our journey to rid the world of those that are less than pure."

There were several cheers and Bellatrix appeared to be completely enraptured. Severus wondered how many of them knew they were cheering for a half-blood.

"I will reveal my plans to you shortly before our strike. It is time that we finally begin to weed out those that would weaken our bloodlines."

There was another, louder cheer this time and Voldemort dismissed them. Severus was about to turn to go, when he felt the Dark Lord's hand on his shoulder.

"Severus, come with me. I would like to speak to you in private." He led Severus away from the group to a small sitting room. He motioned to a chair and Severus sat down.

"I would like you to know how important your loyalty has been to me, Severus," he said sitting across from him. "You have done everything that I have asked, including bringing me Potter's Mudblood friend."

"I am honoured, my Lord," Severus responded, bowing his head deeply. "It is my greatest honour to serve you."

"I know. And so I have decided to grant an even greater favour to you."

Severus tilted his head with a look of inquisitiveness. "That is most gracious my Lord."

"You are one of the very few who are aware of the Horcruxes," Voldemort began, taking a drink from a goblet sitting at his fingertips. Severus nodded. "My instincts tell me that it would be wise to have them close to me, where Potter or his little allies would not be able to get near them."

"That is a very wise idea," Severus said.

"I am currently in the process of reclaiming them and brining them back to Riddle Manor for safekeeping. When that happens, I would like for you to be responsible for one of them."

"You do me a great honour, my Lord," Severus said reverently. "How could I ever repay such generosity?"

"In the coming months I will be preparing for my final attack on Potter, I will need your assistance. You were his teacher for six years and will be invaluable in his destruction."

"My Lord, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see Potter destroyed and for you to take your rightful place in this world."

"I am glad to be assured of your loyalty, Severus," Voldemort said. "You will be repaid for your services."

He then dismissed Severus who left the room, his mind now swimming with all the information that had been presented to him. He quickly debated in his mind if he should go straight to Order Headquarters or down to the dungeons. The memory of Hermione bloody and bruised nagged at his mind, and he first went to the dungeons.

Hermione was still lying on the floor asleep as he walked in. At first he wondered if he should just leave, but he saw Draco looking at him with a curious expression.

"What's going on?" he asked as Severus walked over toward him. "I thought I heard cheering."

"He's planning an attack," Severus said shortly. "We don't have much information yet, but it sounds like a big one."

Draco nodded and both their eyes rested on Hermione's sleeping form. Severus looked at Draco for a moment and he seemed to understand the unspoken question.

"No. She did make a bit of noise a couple times, but she hasn't moved."

"Say nothing to her about the attack. There is no sense in worrying her needlessly. She'll probably just pester you with questions anyway." Severus then walked over to her and brushed her hair out of her face. As he did so, she stirred and reached up to grab a hold of his hand. Severus froze, unsure of how to respond.

"What is going on?" she asked with a hoarse voice and, much to Severus's relief, let go of his hand.

"Nothing you need to be concerned about," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"Terrible," she croaked. "How do I look?"

"Worse than you feel," he said and she smiled softly. "I need to get to Order Headquarters. There are some things that I need to pass on to them."

Hermione nodded and as he stood up she spoke again. "Do you think you could bring me some roast pheasant on your next visit?"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Severus could not help a small chuckle. "She's crazier than you are," he commented to Draco.

"No," Draco said with a sigh and he had an unusually melancholy look to him, "just braver."

Severus decided to ignore the comment and hurried out of the door before he found himself tempted to say anything more.


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: Thanks as usual to RenitaLeandra and Keladry Lupin for all their hard work. And thanks to everyone who has reviewed!_

* * *

Chapter 12

The next several days passed with an eerie and tense sort of calm, both at Order Headquarters and Death Eater Headquarters. Severus had delivered his report to the Order, and there was both a sense of deep concern as to what the attack might be and jubilation that they had the best chance yet of finding the Horcruxes.

Professor McGonagall spent long meetings with the Minister of Magic and the board of governors, and it was finally decided to go ahead and open the school to students. There was no way of determining when or where the attack was going to happen and with the added presence of Aurors at Hogwarts, it was believed that it was the safest place for the children. So, there was a fair bit of scrambling as everyone tried to ready the school. Ginny and Luna, who had returned to Grimmauld Place, also prepared to return. They were the only two Order members who, although they had now officially reached adulthood, were not yet considered fully-qualified witches and were planning to join the rest of their classmates on the Hogwart's Express.

Hermione felt restless with her imprisonment. Neither Draco nor Severus had told her of Voldemort's plans, but she could sense a subtle change in the atmosphere at Riddle Manor. At times the guards were distracted and it seemed that everyone, Draco included, had a bit of nervous energy.

She was taken in front of Voldemort every night, but he had not yet broken through to the last vital memories, specifically,the destruction of the ring. Although he performed the Cruciatus on her every night, she had not been subjected to the torture of Bellatrix and Dolohov again and, in fact, she had only seen them a couple of times since that night.

Severus came to see them at least once a day, sometimes being forced to create a distraction for the guards so no one would suspect why he was visiting the prisoners so often. He always had a bit of food for them and often a pain potion for Hermione. Although she wanted nothing more than to get back to her friends and out of danger, she came to look forward to his visits. If nothing else, it broke up the monotony of the days that otherwise were punctuated only by conversations with Draco. He had grown used to silence and often times wasn't much in the way of company, although he had a knack of taking her mind off things just when she was sure she couldn't stand it a moment longer; whether it was by telling her some crude joke or by intentionally provoking an argument by insulting her heritage. Only afterwards did she realize that he had been doing it to get her mind occupied on something other than their situation.

Then, early one morning, the strange quiet was broken when Severus burst into the room. Hermione could tell he was in a terrifying mood and she felt her heart began to pound.

"Come on, Granger," he growled. "The Dark Lord is requesting you and he is in no mood to be kept waiting."

As he stalked over to her she couldn't help but cringe in the corner. As he saw the fear in her eyes, his expression softened for a moment.

"The Dark Lord is in a furious rage," he said as he removed the chains from around her ankles. "I don't know what is going on, but I haven't seen him like this since Potter escaped. He has been away all night and he just came in and told me to bring you to him."

Hermione felt panic rise up in her and she tried backing away. "No… please don't make me. I can't deal with this anymore."

"It won't be much longer," he said trying to reassure her, but she continued to panic, tears welling in her eyes.

"What if… what if he kills me?" Hermione whispered. "He's going to tire of questioning me eventually. Severus, I don't want to die."

"Hermione, look at me," he said forcefully and she looked up into his hard, black eyes. "I will not allow that to happen; even if it means compromising my position. Do you understand me?"

Hermione nodded but he could still feel her shaking and he knew that either way he would have to end this soon. If she was tortured too much longer, she was in danger of losing her sanity.

"I never thought the time would come that I would see a Gryffindor afraid," he said, intentionally goading her. "I thought Gryffindors were supposed to have courage!"

Hermione glared at him. "We do!" she spat and pulled away from him, walking on her own towards the door.

Severus quickly tried to hide his smile. _Too bloody easy,_ he thought to himself before walking across the room to join her. He grabbed her arm and, refusing to look at her, pulled her through the door to the hall.

They reached the library where Voldemort was standing, looking out a window. He turned as they heard him approach and his red eyes were narrow with anger and disgust. He walked over to them grabbing Hermione away from Severus.

"Perhaps, Mudblood, you would like to explain where the Slytherin ring is?"

Hermione swallowed hard. It had been only a matter of time before he discovered that it was destroyed. She mustered all the courage she could find before she spoke.

"It's destroyed."

"And by who?"

"A greater wizard than you will ever be!" she yelled. She felt a hard blow across the face and she struggled to stay upright.

"I think that you have forgotten who you are speaking to," Voldemort hissed. "There are worse curses in the world than Avada Kedavra. Would you care to be introduced to them?"

Hermione shook her head.

"THEN TELL ME WHO!" he screamed at her.

"Albus Dumbledore." She said the words quietly, but with conviction. Yet he seemed to find this amusing.

"What a pity then, that dear Severus disposed of him for me. I suppose your cause thought this was a great loss. Well, I am sure that Potter will find it disappointing then, that he will never be able to reach the last three Horcruxes."

He walked away from her to a table where there was a large velvet cloth covering something. "I am going to show you something very special. And do you want to know why I am going to show this to you, the one person closest to my greatest enemy?"

Hermione did not want to respond and she gave a small shake of her head.

"Because you are not going to live to share it with anyone; and even if you do, there won't be anyone left to share it with."

Hermione felt a chill at his words. She wanted desperately to glance at Severus but she knew she could not chance it. Voldemort walked over to the table and removed the piece of cloth revealing a small golden cup and a thick, ancient-looking wand. She tried desperately to control her reaction. There were sitting two of the remaining three Horcruxes and, if Dumbledore was correct, the third was slithering around the Manor somewhere. Voldemort picked up the wand, waving it a couple times.

"I thought you might find this interesting. Godric Gryffindor's wand. I enjoy very much the thought of using a Gryffindor artefact to help me obtain immortality." He set the wand back down and covered the Horcruxes back up again. He motioned with his hand and Wormtail came forward. "Put those away in the vault," he said shortly. Wormtail bowed and walked out with the two Horcruxes.

"Now, there is nothing I would like more than to kill you and be rid of you, however, you have caused me such trouble that I would like to see you suffer just a bit more."

Hermione cringed and prepared for the Cruciatus. Voldemort saw her and smiled a hideous evil grin.

"Oh, no. I have a better way to torture you than with just the use of curses. As we speak, preparations are being made for an attack today. One that, I believe will have a special significance for you, Mudblood." He said the word "Mudblood" with an extra emphasis before turning away and touching his own Dark Mark. In the next minute, Hermione saw dozens of Death Eaters appear, many of them leering at her, and several of them making crude gestures, terrifying threats, or both.

"My dear friends," Voldemort said turning to address the crowd. "Today is the day we have been waiting for. I have planned an attack on both Hogwarts and the Hogwarts Express. Attacking the offspring of those we fight against."

There was a murmur and a couple of the Death Eaters looked concerned. Hermione guessed that surely there were several that had children who attended Hogwarts.

"Do not worry," Voldemort said with a smile. "None of your children will be harmed. I am sending Dementors to King's Cross Station to attack the Hogwarts Express. They have been instructed to give the Kiss to all the Mudblood children!"

Now the murmur was one of excitement, even joy. Hermione felt sick. How could these people be pleased at the idea of doing this to children? However, Voldemort was continuing to speak.

"Most of you will also be sent for the attack on Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. I want you to be prepared for a fierce battle. I have learned that there is an increased Auror presence at Hogwarts, but I have great faith that you will prevail!"

There was now a small cheer. Hermione felt as if she couldn't breathe. Had Severus known about this?

"I am putting Bellatrix in charge of the Hogwarts attack," he said nodding to the woman next to him who was flushed with pride. "I myself will be leading the Dementors. Severus, I would like for you, Wormtail, Antonin, Flint and Bole to stay behind to guard our prisoners and our other precious possessions. The rest will be joining Bellatrix in her attack."

He gave Severus a significant look, leaving him with no doubt as to what precious possessions he was speaking of. There was now a flurry of activity and people ran in opposite directions, seemingly already prepared. Voldemort returned to where Hermione was standing.

"I want you to know that I will take great pleasure in seeing many of your friends die this day. And when I return, I will personally kill you and deliver your body to Potter before I kill him as well. Dolohov! Take the Mudblood back to the dungeons!"

Antonin Dolohov stepped forward, a chilling smile on his face. "My pleasure," he said grabbing a hold of her.

He led Hermione away and somewhere inside she knew she should be scared, terrified even. Yet she could no longer find it inside her to be concerned for her own safety when all she could think about were all the people she cared for who were about to lose their lives. Would they even have warning?

He pushed her into the room, chaining her to the wall. She hoped that he would leave, but she was not so lucky. Instead he pressed her against the wall, his body against hers and his heavy, foul breath in her face.

"I could do things to you that no one would ever know about," he whispered in her ear. "I enjoy watching a woman in pain." He grabbed a hold of her neck, choking her and brought his mouth down on hers. Hermione tried fighting him off, but he was much larger and stronger than she was. His other hand reached up and tore at her shirt. She felt the panic and lack of oxygen overwhelm her and her mind began to go blank.

"Huh…" came a voice from behind them. "I never took you for a Mudblood lover, Dolohov."

Turning around, Dolohov saw Draco leaning up against the opposite wall, a smirk on his face. "Do you mind, Malfoy?"

"Not at all. Please, do continue. I'm sure I'll enjoy the show." Draco was still smiling and speaking as politely as if he was being invited to tea. Dolohov did not continue, however. Instead he backed away as if realizing what he was doing. He spit on Hermione in disgust and wiped his mouth.

"Filthy Mudblood," he said and stormed out of the room. As soon as the door shut, Hermione collapsed onto the floor, gagging and sobbing as she was finally able to release all the emotion she had been keeping inside.

"Granger?" Draco said tentatively. She did not respond. "Granger? What happened?"

"H-Hogwarts… Dementors," was all she managed to stammer out as she cried.

"What about Hogwarts?" Draco asked.

"At-attacking the Hogwarts…Express," Hermione sobbed. "Killing all the… all the… Muggle-borns."

"Merlin," Draco breathed out. Even he looked disgusted. "It's sickeningly brilliant. He can get rid of an entire generation at once."

Hermione continued to sob until she did not have the energy to continue and she lay herself down on the floor, tracing patterns in the dirt with her finger. As the hours dragged by, her head filled with fears of the death and destruction that would be taking place. She wondered how many of her friends were dead. Was Harry dead? Was Molly mourning the loss of any more of her children? How many Order members had been killed?

After several excruciatingly long hours, she heard the door being opened. She looked up expecting to see Severus with news, but instead she saw Dolohov and Wormtail. They looked as if they had been drinking, celebrating perhaps, as they were not walking entirely straight.

"Well, well," Dolohov said staggering into the room. "Perhaps you would like to join us in our celebration, Mudblood."

Hermione glanced nervously at Draco who was watching both men intently. "I doubt the Dark Lord would appreciate you being drunk while you're supposed to be guarding us," he said.

"Shut your mouth!" Dolohov sneered and then turned back to Hermione. "Do you know what we're celebrating?"

Hermione shook her head but said nothing.

"We're celebrating death to Mudbloods!" Wormtail shouted gleefully. "We're ridding the world of their filth!"

"Yes, we are," Dolohov said swaggering nearer to her. "And now I finally get my chance to do to you what I wish."

He turned away and looked at Wormtail. "How much pain do you think I could inflict before she dies?" he asked and Wormtail giggled. "Do you think she would last longer than the Longbottoms before going insane? Bellatrix tells me they were tortured for hours at a time. Shall we find out?"

He turned back to her and raised his wand. "_Crucio!"_ he shouted, and no matter how many times the curse was performed on her, she was never prepared. Her screams echoed through the room, bouncing off the walls of the confined space. He let her continue for several minutes before letting up the first time. She was on her knees sobbing and gasping for air.

"_Crucio!"_ he yelled again. Time after time he continued to torture her, pushing Hermione to the brink of her endurance. And just when she thought she could not stand another second, the door flew open.

"_Avada Kedavra!"_ she heard someone yell and for one terrifying moment she thought she was going to die. Instead she realized that Dolohov had fallen to the floor. She looked up to see Severus standing in the door, his face a mask of anger and hatred as he stared at Wormtail. He raised his wand again, but Wormtail fell to his knees.

"Please… please Severus. Do not kill me!" he begged, his whole body shaking. "It wasn't me that tortured her. I would never hurt the friend of James's son."

Severus looked at Hermione for a moment, almost as if asking permission. She shook her head slightly. There was no need for more death than what the Death Eaters were already causing. He gave a grimace of annoyance and then yelled, _"Stupefy__!"_

Wormtail slumped over face down in the dirt where he had been kneeling. Severus walked over to him and kicked him hard in the side of his face. He did not move.

"Coward!" Severus said before moving over to Hermione. He quickly unchained her.

"Hurry," he said standing up. "We need to get out of here before the other two realize what has happened. Can you stand?"

"I think so," Hermione said struggling to get up. Severus grabbed her arms and helped her to her feet. "What about the…." She didn't want to say the word; almost as if she was afraid the walls could hear.

"I have them," he said patting a bulging pack that he was carrying. "That's what took me so long. There were dozens of wards to get through." He was helping her towards the door when she suddenly stopped him.

"Malfoy," she said and she tried to turn back to get him.

"No, Granger," Draco replied with a bit of a sad smile on his face. "I have a role to play here as well, but it isn't with the Order."

She looked at Severus with desperation, but he shook his head as well. For a moment she considered arguing, but then Draco looked at her, winked and yelled, "Guards! Guards! Come quick!"

"Bloody idiot!" Severus growled and grabbed Hermione, pulling her through the door.

They ran down the hall, Hermione trying to keep up but limping badly. She had no clue where he was leading her and, at times, Severus was nearly dragging her along. Once he had to pull her into an alcove as Marcus Flint had hurried by. After going up a flight of stairs and running down several more hallways, he finally pushed his way through a small door into bright sunlight. It took Hermione a moment for her eyes to adjust; she had spent so much time in the dim light of the Manor.

Severus continued to pull her along, though, and she struggled to keep up, her legs aching. She was continued to limp heavily and for several desperate minutes she didn't think she would make it. Finally, they came to a small grove of trees. He pulled her up hard against him and she could feel the familiar squeezing sensation of Apparition. The next thing she realized they were just outside number twelve, Grimmauld Place. Severus continued to pull her along until they were up the stairs and inside the front entrance. For one moment Hermione looked around, drinking in the safe familiarity. And in the next, she collapsed, her body no longer able to handle the strain of her ordeal as she finally knew that the danger – for her at least – had passed.


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: Thanks to RenitaLeandra and Keladry Lupin who continue to make this story far better than it would have been without them._

* * *

Chapter 13

Severus had only had time to take a deep breath of relief as he and Hermione stood in the entrance of number twelve, Grimmauld Place, when he suddenly felt her slump against him and fall to the floor. He quickly grabbed her under the arms and hauled her up so that he could carry her. He heard the sound of footsteps coming from the kitchen and turned to see Aberforth Dumbledore standing in the doorway.

"What happened?" he asked gruffly, walking over to them.

"Exhaustion, I think," Severus bit out. "I can't be sure, though. I didn't really have time to give a complete physical before I rescued her."

Aberforth ignored his sarcasm and moved to take Hermione from his arms. Severus seemed reluctant for a moment, but then let go and followed as Aberforth carried her to one of the upstairs bedrooms.

"Everyone else is still gone. I haven't got any word yet as to casualties. They seemed to think that an old man couldn't contribute anything, so I stayed behind to relay any messages."

Severus nodded. "They got my message then?"

"Yep. Good thing they were expecting it. Everyone managed to get organized right quick."

They had reached the bedroom and Aberforth laid Hermione on an old dusty bed. Severus used his wand to check for any injuries beyond those he was already aware of. When he was satisfactorily assured that she was not in any immediate danger, he motioned to Aberforth and they both left the room.

They were just heading down the stairs when the front door burst open.

"Abe!" Severus heard Lupin's voice as he reached the landing, seeing Lupin gaze up at him. He was filthy, covered in sweat, blood and dirt. His hair was a mess and he had several gashes, but otherwise appeared unharmed.

"Severus! What are you doing here?" he asked as Severus walked the rest of the way down to meet him.

"Hermione and I escaped. It was no longer wise to keep her there. The way it is, she was nearly killed."

"Hermione!" Remus said, his eyes growing wide. "Is she here? Is she all right?"

"Sleeping," Aberforth cut in, joining them. "What has happened? Is everyone all right?"

They walked into the kitchen, and Remus collapsed onto a chair, resting his head in his hands.

"I haven't heard yet from Harry, Arthur or Tonks. They all went to King's Cross to see if there was anything that could be done to stop the Dementors. Harry was beside himself. Ginny was on that train, you know."

"I am not interested in the love lives of children." Severus was beginning to feel annoyed. "Have there been any casualties?"

"Minerva," Remus uttered, swallowing hard, "and Bill. I don't know how I'm going to tell Arthur and Molly."

Severus looked away. Losing Minerva McGonagall was a heavy blow indeed. She was a very powerful witch and a natural leader, but Remus wasn't done relaying the bad news.

"We also lost Hestia and they managed to collapse half of Hogwarts itself; the whole western side. Not that it's going to be used any time soon for school, but it's hard to imagine the school partially destroyed."

Severus began pacing anxiously. He had hoped the Death Eaters would not be able to inflict so much damage. But then, there were so many of them now, and the Order had been given such short warning.

Remus lifted his head up and looked at Severus as if he could read his thoughts. "Thank you for the warning. Things could have been so much worse."

"If there is any bright spot to this day," Severus said, pulling out the pack he had been carrying with him and setting it on the table, "it is this."

Remus looked at him curiously and reached out to open the bundle. Pulling out the wand and the cup, he set them down, looking at them. Aberforth also moved closer to examine the items.

"Is this… what I think it is?" Remus asked.

Severus nodded. "Two of the remaining three. All that is left is the snake and she will have to be killed at almost the same time as the Dark Lord. I already have a plan in motion for that one as well."

Remus gave him a curious glance, but said nothing and instead picked up the wand, examining it. On the handle was a small carved lion. "Godric Gryffindor's wand! I never knew it had survived."

"Neither did I," Severus said. "I would like to know how the Dark Lord ever found it, but somehow I think that will remain forever a mystery."

They suddenly heard the sound of the front door opening again. Remus jumped up from his chair and was through to the hall even before Severus could move. When Severus finally got through, he saw Tonks, now sobbing into Remus's arms, looking about as bad as Remus did. She was not bloody, but she was pale and shaking.

"Not Potter…." Severus's voice trailed off, fearing the worst. All their work would be for naught, if Harry had been killed.

Tonks looked up and if she was surprised to see him, her face did not show it.

"No. Harry and Arthur are fine. So are Luna and Ginny. They're at St. Mungo's getting checked out. We were too late, though. By the time we got there, they had already attacked. They…" Her voice caught and she could not continue for several more minutes. "Twenty-two students; all Muggle-born. The Dementors had given them all the Kiss."

Severus shuddered at the thought and he could not help but think of Hermione. She would be completely distraught.

"You-Know-Who was there," she said, continuing to speak. "He went after Harry, but we managed to get away just in time. Harry's furious that he wasn't able to finish him off yet."

Severus and Remus exchanged looks, but Remus shook his head. This conversation could wait until a later time. Tonks finally seemed to gather herself together and looked at Severus. Remus saw where her gaze had travelled and answered her unspoken question.

"Hermione's back," he said quietly, Tonks looked up at him in surprise.

"Why didn't you tell me? Where is she?"

"She is upstairs sleeping at the moment," Severus answered. "She has had a… rough time. In fact, I should probably check on her."

"Susan is at St. Mungo's right now to help out with any casualties that come in," Remus said, and in that moment Severus remembered that Susan Bones had been studying to be a Healer. "Why don't I go get her and bring her back? Maybe she can look Hermione over; make sure that she doesn't need to go to St. Mungo's herself."

Severus nodded and Remus hurried out the door. Tonks gave Severus a weak smile but she looked uncomfortable as if she wasn't sure what to say.

"Come on, girl," Aberforth said, patting Tonks's shoulder. "Let me get you a cup of tea."

Tonks nodded, sniffling and allowed Aberforth to lead her into the kitchen. Severus stood silently in the hall for a moment, arguing with himself. He felt compelled to check on Hermione, although he knew there was no need. He was not a Healer. Besides, Miss Bones would be there shortly and she could see to Hermione. But what if she had woken with all the commotion downstairs? She would be distressed if there was no one there.

Without a second thought, he quickly made his way up to her room. Opening the door, he looked in. She was still asleep; it appeared she had not moved since he had left her there earlier, except for occasional twitches and involuntary shivers from the Cruciatus. He walked over and sat on a chair that was sitting next to the bed and looked down at her. She was pale and her face looked sunken in. She had lost weight from her time at Riddle Manor and, as he gently picked up one of her hands, he noticed how fragile it was. It was easy to forget her physical limitations when faced with the force of her courage and raw nerve.

He smiled faintly as he thought of all the amazing displays of courage she had shown, not just in the last few weeks but also in all the years he had known her when she was a student. He had always been too furious at the blatant disregard of rules that she, Potter and Weasley had shown that he had never bothered to concern himself with the contributions they made to the fight against Voldemort.

He heard a noise behind him and he turned to see Harry standing in the door, Susan next to him. He dropped Hermione's hand as if he had been burned, and rose from the chair. Susan immediately went to Hermione, beginning her examination.

"How is she?" Harry asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Do I look like a bloody Healer?" Severus barked in reply, feeling embarrassed that someone had seen him with his guard down. "Why don't you ask Miss Bones?"

Susan heard him and looked up. "I think she will be all right, although she has seen more of the Cruciatus than any one person should ever have to. I suppose, given the amount of time she spent at Death Eater Headquarters, that should be expected. I will heal as much as I think she can handle, but she has been under such a physical strain I don't want to do more harm than good."

She then turned towards Severus, addressing him specifically. "Professor, she will need a pain potion when she wakes. I left St. Mungo's in such a hurry I didn't get a chance to take any. Do you have anything here I can use?"

Severus nodded curtly. "I keep some in my room. It is not warded. You may take whatever you need." He paused then, as if debating his next words.

"Can you tell… did anyone do anything more to her? Things outside of spell damage?"

Harry looked at Severus alarmed.

"She has not been raped, if that's what you mean," Susan said, straightening back up. Severus wondered when the mousy Hufflepuff had become so straightforward. "But it looks like she's been beaten. With a fist, that is, not just through spells."

Harry swallowed hard but said nothing. Instead he moved over to Hermione's bedside, sitting in the chair previously occupied by Severus and Susan left to retrieve the potion from Severus's room.

"I suppose there is at least one good thing that happened today," Harry said sadly. "We have Hermione back. I just wish we wouldn't have lost so many of the others."

"There is more than just that to be glad for," Severus said. Harry looked up at him questioningly, but Severus would say no more.

"I'll wait for the entire Order before I explain any further."

As he finished speaking, Hermione began to stir in the bed. Both Severus and Harry's focus shifted towards the figure laid out on the bed. Susan came back in the room with a small bottle and joined them at Hermione's bedside. Slowly, Hermione opened her eyes and looked up at Harry. A faint smile passed across her lips.

"Harry?" she croaked. "You're okay?"

Harry nodded. "I'm fine."

"Is everyone alright? I was so worried…."

Harry tried to smile again, but failed miserably. "Don't worry about everyone else, Hermione. We had some losses but we will survive. The important thing right now is that you're okay. We've all been worried about you."

"I know," Hermione said, once again trying to smile. "I saw the black eye you gave Severus."

Despite the strain of her recent rescue, there was a small twinkle in her eye and Harry's dark mood seemed to lighten a little to see it. She shivered again and sighed as she closed her eyes.

"I'm going to go now, Hermione," Harry said, rising from the chair. "You need to rest."

As Harry walked away, Susan moved closer. "I have some pain potion for you," she murmured quietly and helped Hermione to sit up. She tipped the liquid into Hermione's mouth and as soon as she swallowed, she leaned back against the pillows.

"Get some rest," Susan said, joining Harry by the door. "I'll check on you in a little bit."

Harry, Susan and Severus turned and left the room. As they reached the hallway, Harry and Susan continued downstairs, but Severus hesitated. He did not want to face the rest of the Order just yet. As he stood in the hall, trying to decide what to do, he heard a crash come from inside the room. He raced back in to find Hermione sprawled on the floor.

"Bloody hell, woman," he growled, reaching her in three long strides. "What in Merlin's name were you doing getting out of bed?"

"I was cold," Hermione answered quietly. He could feel her shiver against him as he picked her up. "I was trying to get another blanket."

"You should be letting other people do that for you, rather than risk further injury," Severus said, his voice harsher than he intended.

"I'm sorry," she whispered and he realized that she was holding tightly on to him, her face buried in his neck. He could feel hot tears leaking from her eyes.

"Do not apologize," he whispered as he sat on the bed, pulling her onto his lap. "You have been through enough already. I do not want to see you hurt any more."

Hermione nodded but continued to hold onto him, shaking and crying. He tried to think of calming things to say, but he did not recall ever having comforted someone before, and so they mostly sat in silence, with Severus stroking her hair.

Finally her shaking began to lessen and she lie still in his arms. After several long moments she pulled away and gazed up at him. He never was sure if she moved first or if he did, but all he knew was that suddenly his mouth was on hers, kissing her swollen lips. It was gentle at first, as if to try to comfort her, but Hermione opened her mouth to him, deepening the kiss and he pulled her harder against him.

They stayed that way for a long time, kissing with all the pent up emotions from the past several weeks and with increasing intensity. Finally, when Hermione began pulling at his robes, trying to remove them, he pulled away and stared down at her.

"I don't think that would be a wise idea," he said gently, removing her hands.

"I don't really care about wise ideas right now," Hermione replied, frustrated. "I don't really care about thinking, either."

"No, I don't imagine you do. But tomorrow you will and it will not do for there to be this kind of tension when we have a war to fight. You are not thinking straight right now."

Hermione looked up at him and it seemed he saw every emotion play across her face. Finally, however, it settled on anger and hurt.

"I suppose you are right, Severus," she said shortly. "Thank you for bringing me to my senses."

Severus felt frustration flare in him at her response. "You are acting like a spoiled child!" he said crossly. "I am only trying to help you."

"Well, then you should certainly leave if I am behaving like a child. Good night, Professor Snape." Hermione slid under her covers, turned away and waited for him to leave.

Severus sighed and opened his mouth to argue back, but then thought better of it. The way it was, they had probably said too much.

"Good night, Miss Granger," he growled out and stormed out of the room.


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: Yikes! Sorry it's been a while, but here's the next chapter. And it's a bit longer too! Endless thanks to my betas RenitaLeandra and Keladry Lupin for all their hard work in making this fic readable!_

* * *

Chapter 14

Severus had trouble resting that night. After he had stormed out of Hermione's room, he had gone to speak with Harry and Tonks to find out what had happened at King's Cross. They were both pale and shaking as they described the Dementors swarming down on the Hogwarts Express, singling out all the Muggle-borns. At one point Harry even had to run to the bathroom; everyone pretended that they could not hear him vomiting.

He also had an in depth discussion with Remus and Sturgis Podmore about the attack on Hogwarts once Remus had returned from delivering the news of Bill's death to Molly and Arthur. Although the Order had suffered its worst blow since the return of Voldemort, they had also taken several prominent Death Eaters with them. Both Rodolphus Lestrange and Walden Macnair had been killed. They said Bellatrix had been in a furious rage at the death of her husband, and Minerva had been the one to pay the price.

Yet, as disturbing a day as it had been, it was not only the death of nearly two dozen children or even the death of respected Order members that was occupying Severus's mind. He could not help replaying the events in Hermione's room over and over again. It seemed that these feelings for her had come out of nowhere. Hadn't she always been the annoying little know-it-all with bushy hair and big teeth? When had he started to look at her as a person?

He sighed heavily as he sat drinking a cup of tea in the kitchen and he rubbed his weary eyes with the palms of his hands. He wished they could just destroy the Horcruxes and be done with it. Remus had agreed to call an Order meeting for the next day, allowing some of the less-injured members the chance to make an appearance. Since Hermione's capture by the Death Eaters, it had become necessary to fill more people in on why they were continuing to keep her at Grimmauld Place, and so the entire Order had been told about the Horcruxes. He also knew there would have to be planning involved as to how they would finally attack Voldemort and the Death Eaters, but the sooner he could be done with it, the better. He wanted to move on with his life; perhaps have an existence beyond one of a spy.

He heard a noise and glanced up to see Remus walk in. For a moment he paused at the door, as if unsure if he should continue to enter, but Severus said nothing to discourage him and so he continued in. He walked over to the kettle and poured himself some tea as well.

"You look like you could use some sleep," Remus said in as light a voice as he could manage.

Severus grunted. "I don't need much sleep. I've spent too many years having to forgo such luxuries."

Remus sat down on a chair across the table from him and stared into his cup as if he was hoping to see his fortune.

"Harry told Hermione what happened today," he finally said quietly. Severus grimaced inwardly. Couldn't they have waited a little longer?

"And?" he asked impatiently.

"Naturally she is distraught. Susan had to give her a Calming Draught just to get her to rest."

Severus said nothing but rose from his chair and turned away, resting his hands on the counter facing the wall. They continued to stay that way in silence for several minutes before he spoke again.

"She has been through a terrible ordeal; more than anyone else here, including Potter. I think it would be wise to give her some time to deal with her grief. She knows about the Horcruxes, but I think it would be best to keep her out of the planning for the attack against Voldemort."

Remus gave Severus a long, hard look, as if he was seeing him for the first time. He had never seen Severus express concern for anyone's well being before, and certainly not at the expense of the Order and their success.

"I agree that Hermione needs time to heal, but I think it should be up to her if she wants to be involved or not."

"She is impetuous and overly emotional!" Severus said, his temper rising. "She thinks with her emotions and not with her head! It's what got her in this mess in the first place."

"No, Severus," Remus said his voice quiet and calm. "You got her in this mess in the first place. You were right to do so, but you were very forceful in your persuasion. And do not mistake courage for impetuousness. Hermione is a grown woman, and we do not have the right to withhold this from her."

"I will do what I must to protect her!" Severus yelled and then stopped short, realizing what he just said. Remus gave him a small knowing smile.

"I do not doubt it, Severus," he said. And then he stood up and walked out of the room, the smile still on his face.

* * *

The Order meeting was called late the next morning. Severus felt exhausted; he had been unable to rest all night. The one time he had checked on Hermione she had been asleep – much to his relief. Everyone had gathered in the living room. Severus had arrived early, taking a spot next to Remus, knowing he would be expected to speak.

He watched as other members gathered. First Aberforth, taking his spot in the back, then Tonks, sitting next to Remus still looking pale and clutching his hand. Then Fred and George came in. They looked shaken and were quieter than he had ever seen them. Next Harry came in with Ginny; they sat on the other side of Tonks, and Ginny was wiping away tears. Then Sturgis, Dedalus and Elphias came in as a group, sitting by Alberforth. Lee, Dean, Neville and Luna also came in and Neville whispered to Remus that Angelina, Ernie and Seamus were still at St. Mungo's and would not be joining them. Following them all was Arthur, informing them that Molly was still back at the Burrow with Fleur, making preparations for Bill's funeral. His voice broke as he spoke.

Remus had just risen from his seat in order to begin speaking when he heard a creaking on the stairs. A moment later Hermione emerged, supported by Susan. She looked exhausted, but she had obviously bathed and dressed. There was a murmur of discussion as everyone turned to see her; Fred and George rose, throwing their arms around her.

Severus began to move toward her, but Remus put his hand out to stop him. Even had he not, the scathing look Hermione gave him would have stopped him in his tracks. Not since his return to the Order had he seen someone give him a look so full of fury.

Hermione shuffled over to a worn armchair, sinking down into it. Harry and Ginny moved over by her and Harry patted her on the arm. She smiled up at them and turned to wait for Remus to begin.

"Well," Remus said after Hermione had settled herself for the meeting, "I suppose first off, I should express my relief at seeing Hermione back with us. I must admit, I feared we had made a grave error more than once, but in the end, it appears that our plan was a success."

"You call what happened yesterday a success?" Elphias said in his wheezy voice. "Children slaughtered; Minerva dead! We have taken a heavy blow and you speak as if we have won the war!"

A couple of people murmured agreement, and Remus waited until the noise died down before speaking again.

"Do not think that I don't understand the significance of our losses yesterday. It will be a day that our world will remember with sadness for years to come. But we also had a great victory, striking at the heart of You-Know-Who." He then turned and motioned for Severus to stand.

Severus rose and picked up the bag containing the Horcruxes. He opened it and set them out on the coffee table in front of him. He heard Harry gasp as he saw the goblet.

"What I have here are two of the three remaining Horcruxes." He waited for the sudden outbreak of noise to die down. "They will be destroyed within the next week if everything goes according to plan."

Harry stepped forward and gingerly reached out to touch the goblet and then the wand. He looked up at Severus, his expression intense.

"I want to help."

"I thought you would and it is important that you do," Severus said with a short nod. "However,you will need to follow my and Remus's directions explicitly; unless you're interested in a far worse fate than a blackened hand."

For a moment it looked like Harry would argue, but reason won out and he did not. Instead, he had another question for Severus.

"And what about Nagini? How will we kill her?"

"I have already arranged for that," Severus said. "I would prefer not to go into details at this point, however, rest assured that by the time you and the Dark Lord face each other, Nagini will be destroyed."

"And why should we trust you?" Harry asked accusingly.

"How thick-headed are you, Potter? I have just handed you a third of the Dark Lord's soul and you are still asking for further proof of my loyalty? Look over there," Severus said pointing toward Hermione. She seemed to shrink into the chair. "I returned your precious bookworm to you, did I not?"

"This is all well and good," Harry said, not giving in, "but I'm not going to go into Riddle Manor expecting to be able to kill Voldemort only to find out that he cannot be killed."

"I will give you further details, if you are going to be so insistent. However, I am not going to enlighten you in front of everyone. There are other people's lives at risk besides the ones that sit in this room."

This seemed to appease Harry for the time being, and the meeting turned to the subject of the destruction of the Horcruxes and the consequent attack on Riddle Manor. After much discussion and debate, it was decided that if everything went according to plan, they could attack within the next month. Harry was in favour of a quicker schedule, but Severus insisted that it would take that long for everyone to learn the layout of the Manor and plan for all contingencies. He assured them that Voldemort would be reeling from the loss of the Horcruxes, and he would not dare attack the Order directly with only one Horcrux remaining. He also warned them that although Voldemort would not attack in person, they should be prepared for an increasing number of assaults from his Death Eaters.

It was agreed that all Order members would keep as low a profile as possible, staying either at Grimmauld Place or at Hogwarts in the Gryffindor or Hufflepuff dormitories; the Slytherin and Ravenclaw rooms were demolished by Voldemort's attacks. Remus had gone earlier that day to assess the damage to Hogwarts and, although it was extensive, there were some parts that were still usable. They had reset the wards and had decided that it would still be a good location to use as a base.

After several long and tiring hours, the group finally began to break up. Tonks left with several of the others to go to Hogwarts and prepare things andwould be returning laterwith Portkeys so that they would not be vulnerable trying to get to the castle. Most of the rest returned to their homes to pack what belongings they could before they went into hiding. As everyone was leaving, Severus pulled Harry aside.

"We have things to discuss. Meet me in the kitchen after everyone has left."

Harry nodded and then turned back to Ginny who was preparing to Floo to the Burrow. Out of the corner of his eye, Severus saw Hermione limping towards him. He ignored the strange, nervous feeling he suddenly felt in his stomach. Everyone else had left and he was not sure what she was going to say.

"I just wanted to tell you that you were right," she said, standing stiffly in front of him. Severus was surprised. This was not what he was expecting.

"I was right?" he asked cautiously, and she nodded.

"Yes. Relationships should be built on respect and kindness, not desperation. Clearly I was mistaken as to what I could expect from you."

Severus felt his blood boil. Here he was trying to protect her, and she was insulting him!

"I am glad to know we are on the same page then, Miss Granger. Perhaps it would be best if we avoided each other then." He gave her one last furious look before storming away to the kitchen to meet with Harry.

Several minutes later, Harry had said good-bye to Ginny and joined Severus and Remus in the kitchen. He had just sat down when the door swung open again and Hermione walked through.

"What are you doing here?" Severus said glaring at her. "I thought we just agreed that your company would be better appreciated elsewhere."

"I am not here for your company. I am here to support Harry," she said trying to hold herself up as high as possible and trying to force the blush off her face. "I think I deserve to be here. I think I deserve to know all of your secrets, considering the things I have been put through."

"You already know everything, you silly girl!" Severus was furious and having trouble containing it. "You should be resting."

"I want to know what your plans are in regards to Nagini."

"Bloody hell, woman! You already know."

Hermione looked genuinely confused. "No, I don't."

"Think about it Miss Granger. Who do you know that would be perfectly positioned to get close enough to the Dark Lord to kill Nagini?"

"Draco," she breathed in a whisper. Both Harry and Remus looked at her, alarmed.

"Malfoy?" Harry asked his eyes hardening. He then turned to Severus. "You are trusting our fate to Malfoy?"

"Harry," Hermione said quietly. "I haven't had the chance to tell you everything that happened while I was at Riddle Manor, but I was imprisoned with Draco the entire time. Trust me when I say that he has no love for Voldemort. He is well aware of our plans already. We can trust him."

Hermione looked him in the eyes, willing for him to believe her. Finally Harry looked away, shaking his head.

"I never thought I'd see the day where my life was in the hands of Snape and Malfoy," he said with a humourless laugh. "I don't suppose I have a choice, do I?"

"No," Severus said shortly. "Now, Draco has orders that when I give him a signal, he is to use a Portkey that I have given him that will take him directly to the front entrance where a wand lieshidden for him. He is to immediately find and kill Nagini and then he will give me a signal letting me know it is done."

Harry looked annoyed and opened his mouth to speak, but he caught Hermione faintly shaking her head. He gave her a dirty look but said nothing and closed his mouth.

"This can all be discussed in greater detail as we develop a more detailed plan for the attack," Remus said, rubbing his eyes and standing up. "We have had a very long couple of days and everyone needs a rest, especially Hermione. I suggest we end this for now."

"Very well," Severus said, his eyes flickering towards Hermione at Remus's mention of her name. "I will be staying here and at Hogwarts for the remaining time until the attack. For obvious reasons, I cannot be seen anywhere a Death Eater may find me. We will meet later to discuss the destruction of the Horcruxes. Potter, I will let you know when that is."

He then swept from the room. Harry noticed that Hermione's eyes followed him as he left. When she saw him looking at her, she flushed a dark red.

"Well, I'm going to go back to St. Mungo's and check on everyone who is still there," Remus said, also moving towards the door. "Harry, I'll see you when I return. Hermione, I would hope that you'll be resting, but I do want to talk to you sometime in the next day or so. I want to know everything that happened at Riddle Manor."

Hermione nodded and Remus exited through the door, leaving Hermione and Harry alone. She was surprised to notice that it felt a bit uncomfortable. As if she wasn't sure how to behave. It was a strange feeling to have around someone she considered almost to be a brother.

"So," she said nervously rising, "are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?"

Harry looked at her for a long moment before speaking. When he did, it was not in answer to her question.

"So what's going on with you and Snape?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, feeling her face warm at the mention of Snape.

"Hermione, I saw how he kept looking at you and your face turns bright red every time the two of you are in the same room. And when I first walked into your room yesterday, he was sitting by your bed, holding your hand. I'm not blind and I'm not stupid. Merlin, Hermione, Ron's not even been dead a month yet."

Hermione felt a surge of anger towards her best friend. "I am well aware of when Ron died, Harry," she said, her voice like ice. "Nobody is trying to replace Ron. Nobody _could_ replace him. I am insulted that you would even suggest such a thing."

Even as she spoke, though, she felt a nagging feeling of guilt deep down inside. She had no intention of replacing Ron with anyone, yet in all of the drama and intense emotions of the last several weeks, somehow she had pushed him to the back of her mind. She had not meant to; she had just been too busy surviving at Riddle Manor. Now she better understood Severus's words from the day before. That once she was thinking clearly, she would regret her actions. Of course, admitting it to herself and admitting it to Severus were two different things.

"Well, it just seemed that you and Snape seemed awfully close," Harry said.

"It's nothing, really. He looked after me the whole time I was at Riddle Manor and saved my life more than once. Obviously I am very grateful to him and consider him a friend; just as I do Draco." She said this last part warily. She knew that her interaction with Draco had been a shock to Harry.

"Malfoy!" Harry spat. "Do you really trust him, Hermione?"

Hermione gave her shoulders a shrug. "Well, he's a bit… different than he was when he was at Hogwarts. He's been a prisoner there for over a year. But, Harry, he did his share to help me as well. If it hadn't been for him, Dolohov would have… well… apparently Dolohov's hatred of Muggle-borns does not extend so far that he won't… use… " She couldn't find the words to continue.

Harry felt a sudden wave of nausea. When Susan had said that Hermione had not been raped, he had assumed nothing along those lines had happened. He swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," he said reaching across to hold her hand. "If you trust him, then I suppose I will have to trust him as well. It seems I have most of my enemies to thank for saving my best friend's life."

Hermione gave a faint smile. It seemed hard to believe that it had been a mere twenty-four hours since she had been rescued. In some ways it seemed like a lifetime ago, yet sometimes she still had to struggle to convince herself that she was actually, finally safe.

Harry looked at her as she sat thinking about her ordeal. She seemed to have changed in the short amount of time that she had been gone. He shuddered to think of the things that had been done to her. She had bruises, both old and new, over much of her body. Her face in particular was a mess. She also walked with a pronounced limp.

"I know you probably don't want to talk about it," he said slowly and she raised her eyes to look at him. "But I hope that someday you will be able tell me what all went on in there."

She looked away and her eyes filled with tears. She gave a small nod as she glanced back at him. He also nodded and rose.

"Come on, you need to get some rest. You should not have even come down. You must be exhausted."

"I am," she said, sounding a little shaky. "I didn't expect the meeting to go on for so long."

Harry helped her to her feet and she leaned on him for support, hobbling through the door. In the Entrance Hall, Severus was standing, talking to Arthur, who appeared to be getting ready to leave. Again, Hermione could not help but follow him with her eyes, yet when he turned to look at her she quickly looked away. She felt guilty at her behaviour, however, she was still angry at him for his.

As they walked towards the staircase, Arthur bade them good-bye and left. Severus turned towards them, watching their slow progress.

"Have you finally come to your senses and decided to go back to bed where you belong?" he said, his voice tense with anger. Mentally he berated himself. Why could he not resist goading her?

"I don't think it is any of your concern what I do with myself," Hermione ground out, her teeth clenched with the pain of her straining muscles. Her legs were ready to give out at any moment and the last thing she wanted was to collapse against him.

"You are certainly correct there. My only concern is how your selfishness is harming other members of the Order. Most notably your friend you are leaning on there." Severus knew he was saying things he would regret but once he started, all the feelings of frustration and anger he had been carrying with him the last several weeks welled up inside and he could not stop himself. His words had clearly had an effect on Hermione, who stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. Whether she was shaking from fury or exhaustion he could not tell.

"Selfishness? I nearly gave my life for the Order!" She was close to shouting and tears spilled from her eyes unchecked. "You don't know! You weren't there all those times when I had Voldemort in my mind…" She broke off into a choked sob. "You weren't there when… you don't understand…"

"Fine!" he said furiously. "Then make me understand."

Severus moved so quickly that no one could have stopped him if they had tried. He clasped her face tightly in his hands and forced her to look in his eyes. Although he said nothing, Hermione could feel him enter her mind. She could have easily blocked him, but instead she allowed him in. To see everything that had happened when he was not there to protect her. She told herself it was punishment for the cruel things he said.

He stood that way for several minutes; Harry standing in shock unsure of how to break them apart, or if he even should. Severus saw Bellatrix and Dolohov torturing her and he could almost feel the pain of the curses; he saw the endless attempts by Voldemort to break through the defences in her mind and the near constant use of the Cruciatus. When Severus reached the memory of Dolohov pressing her against the wall, his foul mouth on hers and his hands groping her, he broke away. He could feel the panic she had experienced; the fear of this one last humiliation, worse than all the rest. His face was pale and Hermione noticed that his hands were shaking.

"Susan said that he didn't… that you weren't…" Words seemed to have failed him.

"That doesn't mean he didn't try," Hermione finally said, her voice dropping to a whisper. Severus tried to reach out to her, but she moved away, backing into Harry, who put a protective arm around her.

"I think it's time I got you back to your room," Harry said quietly, giving Severus a look of fury. "I think you've been upset enough for today."

For a moment Hermione thought that Severus would stop them, however, after a moment of hesitation, he turned around and walked away. She and Harry continued their journey upstairs and, when they finally reached her room, Hermione collapsed onto the bed. As she climbed under the covers, laying her head back against the pillow, Harry looked down at her with concern.

"Are you going to be all right?" he asked as her eyes drooped wearily.

"I think so," Hermione said. "I just need some time."

Harry nodded and left the room. As she listened to his footsteps going down the hall, she felt the tears well up in her eyes again. She cursed to herself; she had never cried so much in her life and she felt weak and helpless. Finally, however, the exhaustion took over and she fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Severus poured himself a Firewhisky, his hands continuing to shake as he did. He drank it in one swallow, relishing the burning sensation in his throat. How had this all become so complicated? The plan had been so simple when he had discussed it with Minerva that day in Hagrid's Hut. Had it really been less than a month ago? It felt like a lifetime.

He cursed himself for looking at those memories. It was the stuff nightmares were made of and he had brought that on her. As hard as it was to remember, sometimes, she was barely more than a girl. He cursed himself for that as well. She was young and vulnerable and he had taken advantage of that. He had been her teacher, for Merlin's sake!

He poured himself another drink and swallowed that one also. He had made a great, bloody mess of this and he had no idea how to fix it. He liked to think that he could just keep her out of harm's way; no more battles, no more fighting. Somehow he didn't think it was going to be that easy.

He was broken away from his thoughts by the sound of the kitchen door opening. He looked up to see Susan Bones coming in, an empty glass in her hand. She stopped short when she saw him.

"I'm sorry," she said moving quickly to set the dirty glass in the sink. "I won't bother you."

She moved to head back out the door, but he called her back. "I would like a word with you, Miss Bones." She paused and then turned back around, waiting for him to speak.

"You will probably be spending a bit of time with Miss Granger, won't you?" he asked. She nodded and he continued. "I would like daily reports from you regarding her progress. She has some serious injuries and I will not have her burdening the rest of the Order because of it."

Susan opened her mouth, presumably to protest. Damn Hufflepuff loyalty! But he cut her off before she got a chance to speak.

"I know what you are going to say. She's not a burden. I realize she does not _intend_ to burden anyone, but it is my job as one of the leaders of the Order to know where any possible weaknesses are. If you do not tell me the truth, you will be endangering the lives of the other Order members."

Susan gave him a long look and he knew that she hadn't been fooled by his explanation. She did not say as much, though. Instead she just nodded her head.

"Very well. I will let you know how she is doing, sir."

"Thank you, Miss Bones," Severus said and the young woman hurried out of the room. His conscience felt slightly more at ease and he poured himself another drink.


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: Once again, many thanks to RenitaLeandra and Keladry Lupin for their fantastic betaing. Also many thanks to everyone who was happy to see this fic updated. It's so nice to know that you all are out there!_

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Chapter 15

The next few days were a blur for Hermione. Much of it was spent sleeping and resting in her room. Susan checked on her often, bringing her various potions from St. Mungo's. Harry and Ginny were also regular visitors in her room. Ginny was subdued these days; the loss of Bill and Ron so close together had been devastating, and she looked pale and withdrawn. Remus also visited her, although it was more in his official capacity as head of the Order. They had lengthy discussions about her experience at Riddle Manor, and she gave him as much information as she could.

The one person who did not visit her room, however, was Severus. It seemed he had forgotten about her entirely. She knew they had both been upset at their last confrontation, but, even so, she had hoped to see him. Every day that passed without his visiting, she felt more and more miserable. She had grown used to his visits when she was being held prisoner, and the days seemed long and lonely without him.

They continued to hold regular Order meetings, and she attended most of them when she was feeling up to it. Physically she was improving steadily, however she was having frequent nightmares that kept her from getting a full night's rest. She also found herself feeling edgy and easily startled. More than once, when she had been downstairs, she had been startled by someone coming up behind her and she found herself looking over her shoulder when alone in a room.

It was decided that ultimately it would be Harry who destroyed the Horcruxes. Both Severus and Remus checked them out extensively for all possible hexes and curses that might be on them. Harry told her one night that the cup had had the same curse on it that the ring had; although this time they were able to break it without incident. The wand also had several curses on it of varying degrees of seriousness. Finally, though, they were declared clean and ready to destroy.

Hermione was not present at the destruction of the Horcruxes, as much as she wanted to be. Both Remus and Harry argued with her and reminded her that she needed to be gaining her strength for the attack on Riddle Manor. In the end, according to both of them the next morning, the destruction had been fairly uneventful, considering what it was they were destroying. Both of them had been thrown into a fire at Hogwarts. The cup had melted into a pool of gold and the wand had been burnt to ashes.

Once the Horcruxes were destroyed, the plans began in earnest for the attack. There were almost constant meetings now as battle plans were being drawn. One evening, two weeks after Hermione had returned, they held a meeting at Hogwarts to go over the layout of Riddle Manor. It was her first trip back to the school since its partial destruction. She felt a mix of nervousness and sadness at the prospect of seeing it again.

She bathed and dressed in real robes for the first time in days and she was happy to see Susan waiting for her by the fireplace. The plan was to Floo directly to the Gryffindor common room, since it was the least damaged area of the school.

"Are you ready?" asked Susan cheerfully as Hermione came to join her. Hermione nodded and she gave her an appraising glance. "You'll need to be careful, travelling by Floo powder when you're still recovering. Hopefully you won't injure yourself further. How is your leg?"

Hermione's leg had been bothering her ever since her time at Riddle Manor. It seemed that one of the curses Bellatrix and Dolohov had thrown at her had broken it very badly and no matter what spells were performed, it refused to completely heal.

"Better, I guess. I suppose I'll never get rid of the limp entirely."

Susan smiled sympathetically. "You never know. Advances are being made in Healing every day. Come on, everyone else is already there. We don't want to be late."

Hermione reached over and took the jar of Floo powder from her, grabbed a handful of it and then threw it into the flames. She then stepped in and spoke clearly, "Gryffindor common room at Hogwarts."

Travelling by Floo was never her favourite form of transportation, but she realized that Susan was right. It was even more uncomfortable with her injuries. As she continued to spin, she felt her leg begin to ache, and her injured shoulder throbbed. Just as she thought she couldn't take it anymore, everything finally came to a stop and she collapsed out of the fireplace… and right into Severus Snape.

Without realizing what she was doing, she reached out grabbing a hold of anything she could. It was only after several tense moments that she realized it was Severus's robes.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she tried to right herself. His hands gripped her arms tightly and when she looked up, his eyes looked like a mixture of annoyance and concern.

"You're late," he grumbled and she glared at him.

"Sorry to keep everyone waiting," she said pulling herself away. Her leg was aching painfully and her limp was more pronounced as she made her way to an overstuffed chair in the corner; a moment later Susan joined them and also made her way to the corner.

"Well, now that everyone is here," Severus gave Hermione a pointed look which she met with narrowed eyes, "we can begin."

The next several hours were gruelling and exhausting. Although Hermione already had a general idea of the layout of the Manor, it was difficult emotionally to listen to Severus describe the different rooms where so many of her nightmares had come true. The entrance hall where Ron had died, the study where Bellatrix and Dolohov had nearly killed her, the library where she first heard of the attack on Hogwarts, and, of course, the dungeons where she had been held prisoner. When Severus had got to the bottom level of the Manor, his eyes had met hers more than once. Harry had also glanced toward her and she felt sick and uncomfortable. Finally the meeting came to an end and the group began to break up. Hermione remained sitting in the chair, too emotionally and physically exhausted to get up.

"Perhaps you should stay here tonight," Susan said as she rose from her own chair. "I don't think you could handle another trip back by Floo. I know Tonks is staying here, so you wouldn't be alone."

Hermione thought about it for a moment. She had been feeling confined, stuck at Grimmauld Place for the last two weeks, and it was true that she was not looking forward to the trip back.

"I suppose," she finally said. "I don't have any clothes here, though."

"I can get them for you," Ginny said coming over to join them. "I'm planning on staying here also. Grimmauld Place is getting a little too crowded for me. Besides, Hogwarts feels more like home."

Hermione smiled her thanks and both Ginny and Susan Flooed away. The common room was now empty and she moved to the couch where she could lay down, watching the flames flicker in the fireplace. She felt her eyes growing tired and she allowed them to close and for her mind to drift.

She was not sure how much time had passed, but just as she had fallen into a deep sleep, she suddenly jerked awake. She lay still, wondering what had caused her to wake, when she heard a noise behind her. Footsteps were slowly approaching her, and she tensed. Just how safe was Hogwarts, now that it had been so heavily damaged? What if the wards weren't in place as they all believed? For a moment she considered reaching for her wand but then, in a moment of panic, she remembered that she hadn't even brought her wand with her. Mentally she cursed herself. How could she have become so lax? What kind of a witch didn't take her wand with her at all times? Mad-Eye would have had a thing to say about that, were he still alive.

She lay as still as possible, listening. The footsteps had stopped; they were directly behind her. Suddenly she felt a hand on her arm and she screamed, jumping off the couch and lashing out as hard as she could.

"Bloody hell!" she heard the voice yell, and the person grabbed her arms, forcing them down. She continued to scream, trying to pull away, her terror so great that she did not stop to see who she was attacking.

"Stop it, Hermione!" the person shouted and suddenly she realized who it was. She stopped struggling and looked up into Severus's face. "What in the name of Merlin do you think you're doing?"

"I'm sorry," she said gasping for breath, so relieved that her legs began to give out. Severus managed to hold on to her to keep her from collapsing to the floor. "I thought… well, I didn't know what to think. I guess I thought someone was going to attack me."

"In the middle of the Gryffindor common room?" Severus said with an annoyed look.

"Fear is seldom rational, Professor!" Hermione spat out, feeling silly and childish at her behaviour. Yet she wondered what it would take for him to treat her with the kindness that he had shown at Riddle Manor. She pulled away from him and sat, shaking, on the couch. Her heartbeat was beginning to return to normal, but she feared that she would never again feel comfortable alone.

Severus did not reply right away. He saw the way her hands trembled as she tried running them through her tangled hair and the way her breathing was quick and shallow as if she was trying desperately to calm herself. Despite his mental warnings to just walk away and leave her alone, he knelt down next to her and took her shaking hands in his. She looked at him in surprise, but he said nothing; he just continued to hold her hands until they stopped shaking and her breathing had returned to normal.

"Susan says you have nightmares every night," Severus finally said when it was clear she was recovered.

Hermione felt a flare of annoyance. Why was Susan talking to him about her? "They're nothing," she said pulling her hands away from his. She was surprised at how they suddenly felt cold and empty.

"I am sorry that I could not protect you any more than what I did," Severus said, his eyes downcast and his voice bearing a strange quality to it. "All of this is my fault."

"No!" Hermione protested. "I know you did everything you could. I didn't mean what I said when I told you that you didn't understand. I was just tired and angry."

"Well, I do understand now," Severus said quietly. "I didn't realize what a target you had become for some of the Death Eaters. Most of them enjoy torturing Muggle-borns, but, for obvious reasons, have no interest in more… intimate forms of abuse. Apparently Dolohov was an exception."

Hermione shuddered and, as she remembered his hand on her throat and his foul breath in her face, she fought back a gag. Severus saw her and gently reached up and pulled her off the couch and onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her. It was more of a friendly gesture than a romantic one and relaxed Hermione as she rested against him.

"No one will ever hurt you again so long as I have a say," he said fiercely. "And I am glad that it was me who killed Dolohov."

Hermione felt herself shake again and Severus tightened his hold even more. Looking back now, he had vaguely registered her torn blouse when he had rescued her, but he had just assumed that it had been ruined somehow in the constant barrage of curses she was under.

They continued sitting on the floor, Hermione wrapped in his arms, for a long time until finally the fear of being discovered made them move.

"Come," Severus said pulling her to her feet. "Let me take you up to your room."

"But you can't," Hermione said as he helped her towards the staircase that took them to the girls' dormitory. "Men aren't allowed up there."

Severus just smiled. "I am shocked to discover there is something about Hogwarts you do not know. In general men are not allowed in the girls' dormitory, you are right. However, professors are allowed in _all_ parts of the castle and, apparently, the castle still recognizes me as a professor."

As they made their way up the stairs, Hermione struggled with the long winding steps. Mentally she cursed her leg that had left her so weakened.

"Do you think we could stop a moment to rest?" she finally asked, her face flushed with embarrassment. She hated to admit her limitations, but she didn't think she could continue much longer.

For a moment Severus considered just picking her up and carrying her to her room, but he thought that perhaps that might make her feel even more helpless, so instead he just nodded and helped her to sit on the step. They were still sitting there when she saw Tonks and Ginny appear below them.

"Oh!" Ginny said, surprised to see them sitting there. "Are we… interrupting?"

"No!" Hermione said, perhaps a bit too loudly. "I was just resting. It's hard for me to make it all the way up the stairs by myself."

"Well, now that Tonks and Miss Weasley are here, I will allow them to help you the rest of the way," Severus said standing and helping Hermione up as well. He told himself he was imagining the disappointment in her eyes.

"Very well," she said brushing off her robes. "Thank you for your help." She hoped she sounded properly professional in front of the two curious women.

"It was my pleasure, Miss Granger." Severus's dark eyes were intense looking into hers and Hermione suddenly felt overly warm. She smiled at him and he turned, heading back down the steps; Tonks and Ginny stepping to the side for him to pass.

The two other women made their way up to her and Ginny let a small giggle escape her lips.

"Snape, Hermione?"

"Not a word," Hermione ground out, determinedly looking ahead as they helped her the rest of the way to their room.


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: Many thanks to both RenitaLeandra and Keladry Lupin for all their help and to everyone who has reviewed. _

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Chapter 16

As it turned out, Hermione did not return to Grimmauld Place. As disturbing as it was to see Hogwarts in such a state, it allowed her more freedom of movement than she would have otherwise had. Although most of the castle was no longer safe, she could travel the halls from Gryffindor Tower down to the kitchen which they had purposely repaired, both so people would have somewhere to eat and to give the house-elves a place to stay.

Ginny, Tonks, Susan and Luna were all staying there, and their company was both comforting and enjoyable. Remus was spending most of his nights there, along with Neville, Dean, Seamus and Harry. Severus seemed to be splitting his time between the Grimmauld Place and Hogwarts, although Hermione had not had the chance to speak privately with him since that first night she spent in Hogwarts. They were both busy, both with meetings and, for Hermione, long sessions with Susan and Madam Pomfrey as they continued to try to heal her leg. It had improved some, but the limp still had not gone away. They had both suggested to Hermione that she go to St. Mungo's, but Hermione did not feel that it was serious enough to detract the Healers away from other patients.

For the rest of the Order, things had been equally busy. They had been correct in believing that there would be an increase in Death Eater attacks. There had been a devastating attack on Diagon Alley and an assassination attempt on the Minister of Magic.As a result, Aurors and Order members alike were away at all hours of the day and night, trying to anticipate Voldemort's next move.

Finally, nearly a month after Hermione had been rescued, Remus and Severus both announced that their plans were finalized, and the attack was set for the next day. This announcement was made at an Order meeting that was held in the Hogwarts kitchen. Hermione felt a rush of nervousness and anticipation, that finally the day that they had been anticipating for years was upon them. Severus began explaining the plan of attack and the roles everyone would be playing.

"Potter," he said pointing to a magical replica of Riddle Manor that was sitting on a large table, "you and I will Apparate first. No one knows the layout of the Manor better than I, and I will need to get down as many of the wards as possible. Once we have entered the grounds, Remus will lead the first attack which will include the older Order members."

He heard sounds of protest coming from several of the younger members. He looked up at them. "I don't want to hear any arguments. The older members have more experience and are better trained. So, Remus will lead Sturgis, Elphias, Dedelus, Hagrid, Charlie and Arthur along with Hagrid's… friends."

Hermione leaned over and patted Hagrid's hand. He had just returned a few days earlier with two giants in tow, in addition to Grawp. Hagrid looked over at her and smiled.

"We anticipate that the newer Death Eater recruits will be the first to attack and they should be easily disposed of," Severus continued. "You will then head into the Manor to search out the more senior members. We would prefer that there be as little use of the Killing Curse as possible; we would like to have prisoners rather than bodies. However, I am more than aware that some of his more loyal subjects will die before they allow themselves to be taken prisoner. Tonks has obtained permission from the Ministry to use Unforgivables if necessary."

There was a quiet murmur around the room as everyone discussed this. Severus waited for the room to quiet again before resuming his speech.

"Then Tonks will lead the second attack. Luna, Ginny, Fred, George, Dean, Angelina, Lee, Neville and Seamus; you all will follow her. It will be your job to maintain control of the grounds while the others are in the Manor. We do not want any Death Eaters getting the chance to escape." He paused for a moment, taking a sip of water and Hermione noticed how tired he seemed to be. "I realize, of course, that during the course of the battle events may not go as planned. In fact, they probably will not. I am also aware that for the past year, everyone here has had extensive training in fighting against the Dark Arts. I trust that you will do whatever you can to aid Potter in his attempt to defeat the Dark Lord."

"And what happens if he doesn't?" Elphias asked, voicing the one thought that no one else dared. "What if he is defeated? Then what do we do?"

Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably and Severus seemed to stare at the wall behind them rather than look directly at them. "In the event that Potter is unsuccessful, I will attempt to defeat the Dark Lord myself. If I, too, am defeated, then it is up to each person in this room to make a decision. Do you run? Or do you continue fighting to the end? That is something that you can only answer for yourself. In such an event, however, any survivors should return to Grimmauld Place. It will be the only safe place if the Dark Lord is victorious. From there you must regroup and attempt to continue on."

Any discussions in the room ceased with his words as everyone contemplated such a thing happening. It was nearly unthinkable to imagine Voldemort winning the war. Again Severus took another sip of water before continuing.

"Aberforth will remain at Grimmauld Place and Molly will be here at Hogwarts in order to relay messages. Madam Pomfrey and Susan will also be here to deal with any minor injuries that do not require the services of the Healers at St. Mungo's. Does anyone have any questions?"

"I do," Hermione said feeling a sudden wave of anger wash over her, overriding all her other emotions. "Exactly what is my role to be?"

Remus glanced nervously at Severus. They had argued the night before, and Severus said there was no way Hermione was to participate in the attack. Finally Remus had washed his hands of it and told Severus if that was his decision, he would have to be the one to break it to her. Severus fixed Hermione with a hard stare.

"Your role will be to remain here. You may help Molly, Susan and Madam Pomfrey if they so choose."

"I don't accept that," Hermione said rising out of her chair. She could feel everyone's eyes on her. "I have as much right to be there as anyone."

"You are in no condition to be fighting, Miss Granger. Your leg still has not healed."

"Do you think that would have stopped Mad-Eye?" she said, her voice rising dangerously close to a yell. "I'm not going to just stay behind and let everyone else fight in my place!"

"You'll do whatever I say!" Severus's face was now turning a dark shade of red.

"I don't have to do anything you say! That's not how we work here! We don't serve a Dark Lord!" As soon as the words were out of Hermione's mouth she heard several people around her gasp and she knew she had gone too far. Severus stalked over to her, grabbing a hold of her arm.

"Hey!" Harry said jumping out his chair. Tonks reached for him to hold him back but he was too fast. "You let go of her!"

Severus dropped her arm as if it had burned him, but he looked no less furious. "You _will_ stay behind. I will say nothing more on the subject."

He turned to leave the room but Hermione could not let him get the last word. "I will do what I must. I am not asking your permission."

Severus stopped and turned back to look at her. His eyes were blazing with fury.

"We will discuss this later, Miss Granger," he said. His voice was calm but he was clearly furious. He then turned back around and stormed out of the room.

Hermione turned back around, and all the eyes in the room were on her. She just sighed and sat back down in her chair, refusing to look at anyone. After a long, uncomfortable silence, Remus continued where Severus left off. The rest of the meeting was kept brief as he discussed the procedures that would be followed to take the Death Eaters into custody after Voldemort's defeat. When Remus finally dismissed them, they all left the room quietly, leaving Hermione still sitting and staring down at her hands. She had been trying to force tears back ever since her argument with Severus and now she finally let them fall.

"He's just trying to protect you, you know," she heard a voice say. She looked up with surprise and saw Remus looking back at her.

"Well, he has a strange way of showing it," Hermione said brushing away the tears from her cheeks. "I am not some little minion to be told what to do. Remus, I still want to fight."

"I know," Remus said heaving a sigh. "I told him as much last night when he told me his plans. Hermione, you know we will welcome your help in whatever form it takes, but I strongly suggest you tell him your plans before tomorrow. It would be an unwelcome distraction for him if you show up at Riddle Manor when he's not expecting it."

Hermione nodded, and Remus patted her on the shoulder before leaving. She sat in the kitchen for a long time, thinking of both the past and the future. As much as she dreaded the thought of ever setting foot in Riddle Manor again, she knew she had to do her part and she refused to be told that she had to stay behind. She had never backed down before and she wasn't about to start now. Ever since her first year at Hogwarts, she had helped Harry on his quest to destroy Voldemort and now, when it was within his grasp, she planned to be with him every step of the way.

There was a sound behind her and she turned, rising suddenly to her feet to see the dark-haired man, standing and looking at her.

"Hi, Harry," she said sitting back down with a sigh. "What are you doing here?"

"Remus thought you might need someone to talk to," he said coming to sit across from her. "Besides, who else would I spend today with?"

"Ginny," Hermione said with a smile and Harry smiled back.

"Okay, you're right. But she went back to Grimmauld Place for a while with the rest of her family. She's furious they can't go back to the Burrow but with security…." He shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"How are Molly and Arthur doing? I haven't seen much of them lately."

Again Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I think it's hard for them to mourn right now. Once it's all over and they have a chance to grieve, perhaps they can begin to move on."

Hermione nodded and they sat in silence for a while. Harry opened his mouth to speak a couple of times, but then seemed to think better of it and closed it again. Finally Hermione couldn't stand it any longer.

"Why are you here, Harry?" she said looking up at him. His face flushed.

"I don't know what is going on with you and Snape," he began. Hermione started to protest but he continued, "but today is the last day that we all know we're going to be alive. I mean, we know that there will be some casualties tomorrow and no one knows if they will still be alive at the end of the day. I know you plan to fight tomorrow, regardless of what he said earlier."

"Harry…"

"No, let me finish. I'm glad you'll fight. I want you there with me. But I don't want you to have any regrets. Maybe there are things that need to be said now." Harry rose from his chair and paused next to her. "If there is anything I have learned in this fight against Voldemort, it's that you shouldn't leave things unsaid. I wish with Sirius…" He paused and seemed unable to continue. "Go talk to him, Hermione. Merlin knows, I never thought I'd be giving that advice, but I think you'll feel better if you do."

Hermione also stood. "All right, Harry," she said, giving him a hug, They walked towards the door.

"I looked on my map. He's down by the entrance to the dungeons." Although the dungeons themselves had been destroyed, it was still possible to get partway down the stairs, even thoughthey were not generally considered safe.

Hermione gave him another hug and they parted, Harry heading back towards Gryffindor Tower and Hermione in the direction of the dungeons. She saw Severus, sitting on the lowest stair, staring at the ruins.

She walked down towards him. As he heard the footsteps he stood and turned to look at her, his expression wary. When it was clear she wasn't going to yell at him, he turned and sat back down. She joined him, sitting on the stairs as well.

"I'm going to fight tomorrow," she said after a lengthy silence.

"I know," he said, continuing to stare ahead at nothing. "Remus told me I'd never get you to stay behind."

Hermione felt a jolt of surprise. She had expected more of an argument out of him. They sat for a while longer, neither of them speaking.

"I don't suppose I can convince you to wait and go with the younger Order members?" he finally asked.

"No. I want to be with Harry. Since Ron can't…" Hermione broke off suddenly as unexpected tears rose to her eyes. She had been through so much since Ron's funeral that sometimes it seemed he had been gone for years, not just a couple of months.

"I thought that's what you would want," Severus finally said, once Hermione had once again regained control of her emotions. "I will not argue with you about it any longer. I am not… I am not like the Dark Lord. You have your free will to decide what to do."

Hermione felt a flash of guilt. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I never should have implied such a thing. It was uncalled for."

Severus accepted her apology with a nod. She thought he was done speaking so she rose to leave, but he reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Don't go," he said, his voice sounding choked. "If we don't get the chance to speak again…"

Hermione sat back down and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Do be careful, Hermione," he said finally. "I don't want this to be our last conversation."

Hermione lifted her head to look at him. His face seemed impossibly close and his dark eyes were swirling with emotion. He lifted a hand to smooth back her hair.

"I feared for you when you were a prisoner, but I fear for you much more now," he said as he cupped her face in his hand

"You be careful as well," she said with a sad smile, a tear leaking out of her eyes. She could feel him brush it away with his thumb. They stayed that way for a long moment before he bent his head to kiss her.

As it had the previous time, what was meant to be a gentle kiss, perhaps even a farewell kiss, was suddenly something much more. Hermione felt his tongue run against her bottom lip and she opened up to him, clutching his hair in her fists. He groaned and pulled her to him until she was on his lap, straddling him, his hands also running through her hair and down her back. Hermione gasped as his hands slid under her clothes, running against her skin, and she arched against him as he pressed a kiss at the base of her neck. As he opened his eyes to glance at her, however, he noticed her cheeks were streaked with tears. He removed his hands and she opened her eyes to look at him.

"Don't cry, Hermione," he said gently. It seemed this was all she needed and she broke down into great heaving sobs, burying her head into his shoulder as he helplessly patted her back. When she was finally still, he gently pulled her away from him. She moved off his lap and back to his side on the step, wiping her face with her sleeve.

"Should we head back?" she asked after taking several steadying breaths. Severus gave a curt nod. He did not look back to her when he spoke.

"Yes, that would be best."

She stood up and waited for him to follow. For a moment she thought he was going to continue sitting there, but then he stood and followed her to the top of the stairs. They walked in silence until they reached the seventh floor at which point Severus stopped her. He pulled her into his arms and Hermione looked up at him with confusion. Severus had never been affectionate and his behaviour was unusual in the extreme. She was even more shocked to realize that his hands were shaking and his face was even more pale than usual as he looked down on her.

"Severus? What…"

She was unable to continue as his mouth crushed against hers, kissing her fiercely. He broke away just as quickly and spoke to her in a harsh voice.

"You will stay safe tomorrow." He said it as a statement, rather than a question, as if the force of his will was enough to affect future events.

Hermione smiled at him. "Yes, I will."

A little of the colour seemed to return to Severus's face as she spoke and his hands seemed to have steadied themselves.

"I am a difficult person, I know," he said, refusing to loosen his grip on her. "But you should know that I am rather… fond of you."

"I've surmised as much," she said with another smile. "I suppose that I'm fond of you as well; even if you are frustrating and hard headed."

Severus allowed something close to a smirk to cross his lips. "I could say the same for you, you know. I've never met someone as obstinate as me before."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh and he pressed a kiss to her forehead before leading her back to the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

Severus sat by the fire of the common room, trying his hardest to stare at the book in his hand. Yet, no matter how hard he tried to concentrate on the infernal thing, his eyes kept drifting upwards. On the other side of the room sat Hermione with Potter, Longbottom and the Weasley girl. They appeared to be having a light-hearted conversation, but the smiles looked forced and the laughter was a little too loud to be genuine.

He returned his eyes to the page, but hewas unable to read. All he could think about were these strange feelings that kept welling up inside of him. Why were his eyes continually drawn to Hermione? Why was it that every time he closed his eyes all he could see was her, lying on the floor, covered in blood? And why did that send a jolt of fear through him greater than anything he had experienced before?

The sound of her laughter again forced his eyes up. This time her eyes drifted towards him and he saw that, indeed, this was all an act for her. He had never seen such disturbed eyes on a laughing face before. He resisted the urge to go over and take her away, but it would never do to draw that kind of attention to their situation.

Finally the hour grew late enough that he felt it was only his duty as a leader to intervene. He snapped his book shut, left it on the nearby table and walked over to the small group. He saw Potter look up at him with suspicious eyes. Slowly the rest of the group turned to see what he was looking at. He ignored the blush that was faintly creeping up Hermione's face.

"I would think, Potter, that you would better spend this time resting and preparing for tomorrow," he said, keeping his voice cold. "In fact, I would advise it for everyone. Especially you, Miss Granger." He looked down at her and fixed her with as hard a stare as he could manage. She looked unfazed. "If you insist on accompanying us tomorrow, you should at least have the courtesy to rest and be as prepared as possible. You may also want to see Madam Pomfrey for any bone-strengthening potions she might have."

Severus was sure she would argue with him; he could not remember a time when she followed an order of his. Instead she just smiled and said, "What an excellent idea, _Professor._ I'll go see her right now." As she walked by her hand brushed his.

_Impertinent girl,_ he thought to himself, but somehow his heart seemed a little lighter. The rest of the group broke up and headed towards the dormitories. Everyone, that is, except Harry, who continued to stare at him.

"Is there something you needed, Potter?" he asked impatiently.

Harry rose slowly. "Nothing, sir. Just noting the unusual concern you seem to have developed for my best friend."

"I just don't want her ruining our chances tomorrow," Severus said shortly. "And I trust you will keep your nose out of everyone else's business."

"Of course, and I trust you will keep in mind that Hermione _is_ my business."

"Fine, Potter. Just keep your mind on tomorrow's mission," Severus snapped. He walked away to get some rest himself.

_Bloody Gryffindors, _he thought, right before sleep claimed him. _It's a good thing they're so damn brave, or they wouldn't be good for anything._


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: Endless thanks to my betas RenitaLenadra and Keladry Lupin. Also, many thanks to all of you who have been reading. _

* * *

Chapter 17

Morning finally came, and with it came wind and rain. Hermione didn't think this was a good omen, but Severus seemed pleased enough with it, saying that the inclement weather would be an added distraction to the Death Eaters. Breakfast was a hurried affair; Harry didn't look like he would be able to swallow anything, but Remus told him that he needed to keep up his strength, so he finally forced down some food.

Afterwards, everyone met outside, just inside Hogwarts grounds. Hermione had already said good-bye to Molly and Susan inside the Gryffindor common room. In the distance, Hermione could still see the remains from the attack on Hogsmeade. She made a point to think about the lives that were lost there… the lives that had been lost all over wizarding Britain. She thought of Hestia and McGonagall, Bill, Mad-Eye, and Kingsley, who had all been alive just a few months ago. She thought of Dumbledore, who had sacrificed himself for the sake of the Order and a misguided student. She thought of poor Sirius, who had wasted away in Azkaban only to be killed once he had escaped. But most of all, she thought of Ron; poor Ron who had pushed Harry out of the way of the killing curse. Ron, who deserved to be there to fight at the end.

Severus, Remus and Tonks spoke together in hushed voices for several long minutes; and the rest of the group naturally divided into the young and old. Hermione and Harry stood apart from both groups, huddling together against the cold and rain. Finally, Severus came over to them.

"We are ready," he said curtly. "Remus will give us ten minutes to get onto Death Eater grounds and for me to remove as many of the wards as possible and warn Draco. Hopefully, we can take out most of the guards. They are poorly trained. If the Dark Lord has any weakness, it is his confidence. He doesn't believe we will ever make a direct attack on Riddle Manor."

He led Harry and Hermione away from the groups and off Hogwarts property. Hermione steadfastly refused to look behind her, knowing she would never see some of these people again and that, perhaps, they would never see her.

As soon as they were a good distance away, they Apparated to the same grove she and Severus had escaped to a month before. At his direction, she and Harry both ducked behind trees. Severus walked as far as the edge of the trees Hermione saw him perform several complex spells and then shoot two stunner spells at the two closest guards to them.

As soon as they fell to the ground, they heard more shouts, presumably from other guards who had seen what had happened. One of them ran inside Riddle Manor to alert the other Death Eaters, and two others began blindly sending curses into the forest, still unable to see Severusbecause of the driving wind and rain.

The spells were easy to dodge, but almost immediately,the doors of Riddle Manor flew open with a half dozen more Death Eaters emerging. Try as they might, Hermione and Harry had no luck trying to stun them, and the Death Eaters continued to move closer. Finally, Harry caught one with a well-timed _Impedimenta_ and Hermione was able to disarm two of them. Severus, who had been busy trying to remove the rest of the wards, finally joined them and stunned two more.

As he did, Hermione heard the loud crack of multiple Apparitions and, although she did not turn her head, she knew that Remus had arrived with his part of the Order. She heard one of the Death Eaters give a loud yell and they turned to run back to Riddle Manor.

"What's going on with Malfoy?" Hermione heard Harry hiss at Severus. "We need to be getting in there before they have much more time."

"Nothing yet," Severus said as the other group caught up to them. "Give him a few more minutes."

"We don't have any more minutes," Harry said impatiently. "If Malfoy can't get it done, I'm just going to have to do it myself." He then turned and moved out of the woods.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted and ran after him.

"Gryffindors are going to be the death of me," Severus muttered to Remus before following them. He heard Remus ordering Sturgis and Charlie to follow them, and they made their way up to Riddle Manor. They did not go through the main entrance; that would have been suicide. Instead they went around to the side door that Hermione remembered escaping out of. The door had been protected with several charms; apparently, they had not been changed since Severus's defection, because he was able to get through them relatively quickly, with the others standing guard. As soon as he had broken through all the barriers, he turned to them.

"All right. Harry, you follow me. Hermione, you know the layout better than anyone. I want you and Charlie to try to find Draco. If he has been discovered, we need to get him out. Sturgis, you stand guard here."

No one argued, and they quickly followed Severus into the Manor. For a moment, the memories of her time there were so overwhelming to Hermione that she nearly staggered under the weight of them. Charlie put an arm out to steady her.

"You okay?" he asked and she nodded. "All right. Lead the way."

Hermione saw Severus and Harry moving down the hall, and she was just about to take a step forward when suddenly the entire house shuddered and rocked as if there were an earthquake. She turned to look at Charlie with alarm.

"Must be the giants," he whispered as the house shook again. She turned back as she heard shouts from Death Eaters moving toward the front entrance.

"This way," she whispered and moved him down another hall, away from the front of the house. She found the way to a back staircase that she had once been led down, and they made their way to the bottom level. She was relieved to see there was only one guard outside the door… a very distracted one, at that.

"_Stupefy__!"_ she shouted and the guard collapsed into a heap. They hurried to the door, and she tried to turn it. It was locked. Severus had told them that all the doors at Riddle Manor, even if they were not warded, were locked to anyone who did not have the Dark Mark.

She looked helplessly at Charlie. "Something tells me that this isn't going to be easy."

"Move aside," Charlie said and she stepped behind him. Without warning he raised his leg and kicked the door in, splintering the old wooden frame. "Sometimes the Muggle way is easier," he said with a grin.

Hermione rushed into the room, but all she saw were the chains that had held her and Draco, and a cup of water that had been tipped over. She cursed in a decidedly unladylike way and turned to look at Charlie.

"Well, either he was taken out of here, or the plan has worked and he used the Portkey. Either way, we'd better be getting back up to the main level."

Charlie gave her a look of confusion, and Hermione remembered that he would have no idea what Draco's role in the attack was. Still, he nodded his agreement and they moved back into the hall, narrowly missing a curse from Marcus Flint. Charlie stunned him and as they walked past him, Hermione kicked him hard in the face, breaking his nose. Charlie looked at her in shock.

"Bastard was one of my guards," she said calmly as if she had done nothing out of the ordinary. "Trust me, I got worse from him."

They hurried back upstairs, taking a different flight of stairs this time and as they emerged, they found themselves in the middle of a full-fledged battle. All of the Order were now on the property; she could see Hagrid had taken out two Death Eaters with one blow, Luna was helping a bleeding Neville to his feet and Fred and George fighting off Rabastan Lestrange.

One of them caught her eye and yelled, "Duck!" She ducked just in time as a green flash of light passed over her head. She turned to see where it had come from, and saw Bellatrix Lestrange moving towards her.

"Well, well, if it isn't our little escapee," Bellatrix said with a sneer. "Last I saw, Snape was paying dearly for his little stunt!"

Hermione forced down a wave of fear that hit her. Where were Severus and Harry? If Severus was hurt, how would Harry ever survive? She couldn't spare more than a moment's thought, though; Bellatrix raised her wand to duel. Hermione was able to miss the first few hexes the other woman cast, but she gasped in pain when Bellatrix's _Sectumsempra_ caught her across her abdomen.

"Hermione!" Angelina shouted, moving closer and pulling Hermione into a doorway, just missing a stray hex. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Hermione said through clenched teeth. "It wasn't a direct hit."

It was a lie but there was nothing that could be done about it now. She used a rudimentary Healing Charm on herself, enough to stop the worst of the bleeding, and took a deep breath before moving back into the hall to face Bellatrix. They continued to duel for what seemed like an eternity. The rest of the battle went on around them, and occasionally Hermione would have to defend herself againstother Death Eaters as well, but the two women never lost sight of each other. Hermione felt her mind and body beginning to wear. Not only was it difficult to fight the clearly talented witch, but every few minutes the ground would shake from the force of the giants, causing her to lose her balance.

_"Crucio!"_ she heard Bellatrix shout, and Hermione fell to the curse,unable to block it in time. Hermione felt the horribly familiar pain shooting through her body as she spasmed on the ground.

_"Expelliarmus!"_ she heard Remus yell, catching Bellatrix off guard. Her wand flew out of her hand, breaking the Cruciatus. Remus reached down and pulled Hermione up. The moment his attention had moved from Bellatrix, however, she had turned and run down the hall. Remus tried stunning her before she got away, but she dodged him and disappeared from sight.

"Where is everyone?" Hermione asked Remus as they ducked into an alcove to catch their breath.

"A lot of them are outside. Most of the Death Eaters went out there when the giants started attacking the house. I haven't seen Severus or Harry."

"What about Draco?" she asked breathlessly, hoping for the best. But Remus shook his head.

"Sorry, Hermione. I haven't seen him either."

"All right," she said. "I'm going to go look for them." She moved back into the hallway, which had several Order members still fighting in it and in the surrounding rooms. It was difficult making her way down the hall, fighting off Death Eaters and avoiding stray curses. She had made it to nearly the end of the hall when she reached a room that was locked.

"Charlie!" she yelled and he came running over to her. He looked a little worse for wear now, with a nasty cut above his eye and he was running with a bit of a limp. "I need you again."

He gave a grin and once again launched his bulky figure toward the door. As it had previously, the door burst open. Inside, Hermione saw the figure of a blond young man lying on the floor, unconscious. Lying next to him dead, on the floor, was Nagini the snake. An enormous feeling of relief filled her.

"Watch the door," she said to Charlie as she hurried in. For a moment, when she reached Draco, she feared he was dead. But as she struggled to turn him over, she heard him give a faint moan.

"Draco?" she said hopefully. There was no response. "Draco, I need you to wake up!" She continued shaking him, but aside from occasional moans of pain, he would not respond.

"Charlie!" she called.

"What?" he said a bit impatiently as he fought off a hooded Death Eater.

"I need you to help me get Draco out of here," she said. "He's hurt and he needs to get either to St. Mungo's or back to Hogwarts."

"Bloody hell!" Charlie spat. "He's a Malfoy!"

"I don't care! Either get him out of here, or I will."

Charlie gave her one look of annoyance and then motioned for her. "You'll need to hold them off, then. I'll not have you killing yourself over a Malfoy."

Hermione gave a triumphant smile and joined him in the doorway to take his place.

"Be sure to tell them that he was helping us," Hermione said as the stocky young man bent over and picked up Draco's slight body. He looked up at her with surprise and she motioned to the body of the snake lying next to him. "He destroyed the last Horcrux."

With Hermione blocking the curses from the Death Eaters, Charlie stumbled out of the Manor as one of the giants thundered by. Hermione could not afford to watch and make sure they made it to safety; the fight going on around her was still too intense. So she returned to the hall she had first gone down, hoping to find Harry and Severus.

Although she knew this had been a Muggle home, it seemed that somehow the house was enchanted as she twisted and turned through the halls. She knew it could not possibly be this big, yet at the end of every hall, there was another one.

Soon, though, she began to hear yelling ahead of her instead of just behind. She slowed her pace and, as she continued, she realized that it wasn't yelling; it was screaming. Her heart felt like it was in her throat as she approached the open door where the sounds were coming from. She knew why they were screaming. It sounded just as she did when she was being tortured. It was a sound that no human should ever be able to make: as if the screams themselves were being ripped from the victim's throat. She was unable to tell who it was, and she approached with extreme caution until she could just barely see inside the room.

The first thing she saw filled her with dread and horror. Severus was unconscious on the floor, lying several feet from the door. Hermione could not tell if he was breathing or not, but he lay in an unnatural position, as if he were a rag doll that had been tossed away.

Harry was clearly at the mercy of Lord Voldemort; Hermione didn't see his wand, and she supposed he had lost it during the duel. In the corner, Hermione could see Wormtail, trembling like the coward he was and watching the events unfolding before him. Harry had just risen from his knees where he had fallen during the Cruciatus when he caught Hermione's eyes with his own. Hermione tried to back away, out of sight, before Voldemort saw what he was looking at, but it was too late.

"_Expelliarmus!"_ Voldemort said, and Hermione's wand flew out of her grasp before she had a chance to block the spell. He caught it neatly in his hand, a wicked smile of delight on his face.

"Well, what a lovely reunion we have here," he said, his voice sending shivers through Hermione. "I'm so pleased you could join us, Mudblood. Are you enjoying your return to my lovely home? I see you have reacquainted yourself with Bellatrix." He pointed toward Hermione's blood-soaked clothes, which were torn across her abdomen. He then turned back to Harry.

"I would love nothing more than to kill your friend here while you watch, but I feel that I have put off the inevitable long enough." He then turned to the snivelling man in the corner. "Wormtail! Get over here and hold onto the Mudblood! I don't want her getting away!"

Wormtail shook his head and seemed to retreat further into the corner. Hermione wondered if perhaps the joy of being a Death Eater was beginning to wear off.

"You filthy coward!" Voldemort hissed. "Do what you have been told, or you will pay the consequences."

Wormtail still refused to move. "You will pay for this disobedience," Voldemort said in a tone that would have had even Godric Gryffindor shaking.

"_Incarcerous!" _Voldemort shouted pointing his wand at her and she was suddenly tightly wrapped with ropes. "It's not quite as enjoyable this way, but I suppose it will do."

He then turned his attention back to Harry. Hermione struggled against the ropes as hard as she could and she managed to loosen the knots on her legs enough that she could move forward, just an inch at a time. Voldemort was raising his wand towards Harry, and Hermione frantically tried to move as quickly as she could. She was only a few feet away; neither Harry nor Voldemort had noticed her movements, both of them centred on the other. She was five feet… four feet… three feet… She closed her eyes tight, grimacing in pain as she continued her slow movement.

No sooner had she done this, though, as she heard the words, "_Avada Kedavra!"_

"No!" she shouted as the first word was being said. She launched herself the last few feet in the air, hoping to block the spell, and knocked Harry off his feet just as the world went black.


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N: Many thanks to RenitaLeandra and Keladry Lupin for all their hard work. I am sorry this was late- I know I told several people I would have this out sooner, but life got away from me. _

* * *

Chapter 18 

"Hermione!" she heard a hoarse voice say and she strained to open her eyes. "Hermione, wake up!"

She moaned and opened her eyes.

"Severus?" she whispered. The man kneeling over her gave a weak smile. His face was bruised and bloody, but he was alive and in one piece. She threw her arms around him. "I thought you were dead!"

"Luckily, no. You are lucky as well. Foolish woman, throwing yourself in front of the Dark Lord. Gryffindor courage indeed!" She supposed he meant to sound sarcastic, but the words sounded sincere.

The last moments before she lost consciousness flooded back to her, and she struggled to remove herself from his arms.

"Where's Harry?" she asked frantically.

"I'm here, Hermione," Harry said in a tired voice from across the room. Hermione looked up and saw him standing, wand in hand, over a cowering Wormtail.

"What happened?" she asked trying to rise to her feet. She felt a wave of dizziness pass over her, though, and she was forced to sit back on the floor.

"Believe it or not, Wormtail here finally repaid his life debt to me," Harry said pointing at the other man. "He killed Voldemort. Who would have guessed that the only one in this room the cast the Killing Curse would be Peter Pettigrew?"

Hermione looked at him in shock and then her eyes traveled over to what looked like a heap of robes lying in the middle of the room. She could see now that there was a body in those robes. It was amazing that this dark wizard, most feared of their time, looked so _human_ once he was robbed of his life. His face no longer held the terrifying menace and anger that it did in life.

"It's over?" she asked looking up at Severus.

"Not quite," he said. "Some of the Death Eaters are determined to fight to the death. I suppose for some of them it is preferable to life in Azkaban."

He reached down with a hand and pulled Hermione up. She still felt dazed, but was able to keep her balance this time, with the help of Severus's arm wound tight around her. He gave her an appraising look.

"You're going to need to get to St. Mungo's," he said. "You've lost quite a bit of blood. That gash on your stomach will need looking after. Apparently Healing charms are the one thing you _can't_ do."

Hermione couldn't help but smile and nodded in agreement. She looked back towards Harry and Wormtail. Harry was staring at Wormtail with a look of confused frustration and Hermione could understand his conflicting emotions. This man was responsible both for Voldemort's return and his demise.

"What's going to happen to him?" she asked Harry.

"I don't know," he said. "We'll be turning him over to the Ministry for them to deal with. I don't envy the Wizengamot's job on this one."

"Please…" Wormtail whimpered. "I don't want the Kiss. You will defend me, won't you? You will tell them that I switched sides?"

Harry gave a snort of disgust. "You only killed him because you knew that all the Horcruxes were destroyed and he was mortal. You don't deserve any leniency."

Wormtail whimpered. "Please, Harry… Your father wouldn't want…"

"Don't speak to me of my father!" Harry shouted, making Hermione jump. "I don't know what my father would want, thanks to you! Besides, we don't know what they will do since the Dementors were on Voldemort's side. But the Kiss is no less than you deserve, you pathetic piece of filth!"

Hermione cringed at Harry's words but did not stop him. At least his rage was finally directed at someone who was actually guilty of the crimes they were accused of. She turned to leave the room with Severus's help; Harry followed, pulling a bound Wormtail along with him. As they stepped into the hall, which was much quieter now, Severus handed her back her wand.

"You will need this," he said. "There are still plenty of Death Eaters around here."

They walked outside into the dreary light of the overcast day. It had finally stopped raining, but it was still cold and windy. She could see many Order members, and even some Ministry Aurors, engaged in battles with the remaining Death Eaters. Other Ministry officials had some Death Eaters in custody and there were Healers from St. Mungo's attending to some of the wounded. As they began to walk across the field, she saw a flash of movement from out of the corner of her eye. She spun around just as Bellatrix Lestrange reached her, a dagger in her hand and a look of enraged insanity in her eyes. Hermione felt a sharp pain as the blade sliced into her flesh, and she fell to the ground. Bellatrix fell on top of her and reached up to stab her again.

"_Avada Kedavra!" _Severus shouted, and Bellatrix collapsed on top of Hermione.

"Hermione!" he said reaching down, pulling Bellatrix off of her and removing the dagger that was still clutched in the dead woman's hand, just inches from Hermione's throat. He raised his wand and moved it along the wound in her side. It continued to bleed, although a bit less freely than it had been.

"We need to get a Healer," he said to Harry who had run over to them. Harry nodded and shouted for the nearest Healer, a slight young man who looked very pale and tired. Both he and Remus, who had seen the entire thing, came hurrying over. Hermione tried speaking, but somehow her mouth would no longer form words. It felt like both her mind and body were sluggish and wouldn't quite do what she wanted them to.

The Healer pulled out his wand, murmuring spells that Hermione did not know, yet she still felt darkness closing in around her. In a panic, she grabbed a hold of Severus's hand and he held onto it tightly.

"We need to get her to St. Mungo's," the Healer said. It sounded very far away as if she was in a tunnel, and then she did not hear or feel anything more.

* * *

Severus sat in an uncomfortable armchair, staring down at the seemingly lifeless body of Hermione. She was not dead; he had to keep reminding himself in order to believe it was true. She had lost a lot of blood, not only from the knife wound, but also the wound to her abdomen that she had ignored for far too long during the course of the battle. They had given her a Blood-ReplenishingPotion and had been able to heal her wounds. She was now resting as comfortably as possible. 

The ward was full of various Order members who had been injured during the battle. In the bed next to Hermione was Neville, who had ended up on the wrong end of a nasty hex from Goyle. Fred and George were both a few beds down, although they seemed to be recovering nicely and would probably be leaving soon to make room for more people. Harry was on the other side of Hermione, but rather than resting, he was deep into conversation with Ginny. Severus guessed that they were about one heartfelt confession away from snogging. He tried not to gag at the thought.

There were also some people who had been taken back to Hogwarts. Draco had been taken there after he was checked out at St. Mungo's. There had been a nasty curse on the bite he had sustained from the snake, but once that was dealt with, the Healers said all he needed was rest. Tonks was also there; she had come out in pretty good shape, but had collapsed from exhaustion just as soon as the last Death Eater was captured.

His mind drifted, though, to the people that were not lucky enough to be at St. Mungo's nor Hogwarts. Sturgis Podmore, who had died trying to guard the door they had gone in; Ernie Macmillan had bravely tried to fight Bellatrix Lestrange early in the battle, but had been no match for the witch. Both Lee Jordan and Seamus Finnegan had gotten caught in the crossfire during the most intense of the fighting.

Severus then looked down at the woman lying in the bed. She looked so pale and frail. He was amazed when he thought of everything she had accomplished since their first Occlumency lesson together. She had fought the most feared wizards and witches of their time, spent more than a week as their captive and, in the end, was willing to give her life in order for Potter to survive. He wasn't sure he had ever seen such an amazing and foolish display of bravery in his life.

Yet, as he looked down at her, trying to contain so many intense emotions, he knew that any relationship right now would be next to impossible. There were Aurors standing outside the hospital doors, waiting to take him to Azkaban. Harry and Remus had both argued with them, trying to explain that things weren't as they seemed and that he had been helping the Order. But the Ministry of Magic was a bureaucracy and all they knew was that he was to stand trial for the murder of Albus Dumbledore. Their only concession was that he could continue to remain at St. Mungo's, under guard of course, until Hermione woke and he could explain things to her. Regardless of his situation, though, he reminded himself of how young Hermione was. She should not be wasting her life away for a man that had as haunted a past as him.

Hermione stirred and he picked up her hand, rubbing his thumb against it. She gave a small moan of pain as her eyes opened.

"You mean I'm still not dead?" she groaned. Even with all the heavy thoughts going through his mind, Severus could not help but smile.

"It seems that you have more lives than a cat," he said. "I think that Potter made a good tactical decision when he picked you for a friend. Before long they'll be calling you The-Girl-Who-Lived."

Hermione gave a weak laugh at this. Harry heard her and he and Ginny moved over to the side of her bed. She turned to look at them, smiling at Ginny, but when her eyes met Harry's she had a confused look on her face.

"I don't understand," she said. "The Prophecy said that one would have to die at the hand of the other. How is it that Wormtail killed him?"

"Well," Harry said sitting down on the edge of her bed, "I asked Snape and Remus the same thing."

"What you have to keep in mind," Severus said, "is that Wormtail only killed one seventh of the Dark Lord's soul. Most of his soul had already been destroyed by then. Harry was responsible for the destruction of four of the Horcruxes. So, in fact, most of the Dark Lord _was_ destroyed at Harry's hand; just not the part that was inside his body. That is the problem with prophecies. They are notoriously hard to predict."

Hermione thought about this. It had never occurred to her that someone other than Harry would be the one to deliver the final blow. She supposed in the end, it didn't matter how it happened as long as it was done.

"Where is everyone?" she asked. "Who… who didn't make it?"

"Well, some of the Order are here," Harry began, shifting uncomfortably. "Some of them are at Hogwarts. We were pretty lucky, all things considered. But we lost Sturgis, Lee, Ernie and Seamus."

Although Harry tried to sound matter of fact about it, he failed miserably and Hermione could feel tears well in her eyes. These were people she considered friends. Two of them had been in her year, and she had attended class with them every day.

"What about Draco?" she asked, afraid of the answer.

"He will be fine," Severus said. "He is resting at Hogwarts."

He didn't mention the Aurors that he knew were also there, waiting to take Draco once he regained strength. She relaxed a little at this news and closed her eyes for a moment. Harry moved back to his bed, also lying down.Severus sat in silence, watching Hermione and wondering how he was going to explain things to her. Before he had a chance, though, a Healer came over to check on her. He moved away from the bed as the Healer pulled the curtain around to give her some privacy. From where he now stood, he could see the Aurors just outside the door.

"You need to tell her," Harry said quietly. "They're not going to wait out there much longer."

Severus did not look at him; he did not want to see pity in the eyes of his greatest enemy's son.

"Tell me what?" Hermione's voice called from the other side of the curtain.

"Quiet, Miss Granger," Severus heard the Healer say. "You need to lie still while I am examining you. You sure have been through a mess."

Severus heard Hermione huff impatiently and then the sound of rustling sheets. He did not respond to her inquiry, knowing that lying still was the last thing she would be doing once he told her all he had to say. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the Healer came around to the other side of the curtain.

"She will make a decent recovery," she said to both Harry and Severus. "She has been through a lot, though, and I don't expect that leg of hers will ever heal completely. I don't know what curse they used on her there, but I've never seen anything like it. She should have come here straight away when it happened."

She paused for a moment as if expecting some sort of explanation as to why Hermione had never sought professional treatment. When none was forthcoming, she continued.

"Aside from that, though, she should have no lasting damage beyond a few scars. She is still in a very fragile state, however, and I suggest you don't upset her too much." She gave Severus a pointed look and he tried to refrain from rolling his eyes. Did the whole wizarding world know his business?

"I will keep your opinions in mind," he said to her in a tone that implied he would do no such thing. She just glared at him and walked away to check on the twins, who looked like they were already conspiring on a way to wreak havoc on the rest of the ward.

Severus glanced toward Harry, who looked at him and then turned to Ginny. "Why don't we go down and see what the twins are up to?" he asked her. They both left as quickly as their injured bodies could carry them. Severus just sighed and moved around the curtain to where Hermione was now sitting up, a pillow propped against her back.

"What is going on?" she asked warily. "Why do you need to talk to me?"

"Potter needs to mind his own business," Severus said,feeling frustrated with the situation. Hermione just rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, can't we put all that behind us?"

"No. We can't," Severus said shortly. "I suppose that is the point. Just because the Dark Lord is dead does not mean that the world is all sunshine and roses now."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. She had thought that everything would work out now.

"I mean, that even though you and your little band of friends think that I'm innocent, the Ministry of Magic does not share your opinion. I am being charged with Albus's murder, which is rather unfortunate, considering I am guilty of it."

"What?" Hermione said trying to rise from the bed. Severus reached out and placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "Have they lost their minds? Didn't Harry tell them?"

"Yes, the little hero told them everything," he said as sarcastically as he could manage. "Unfortunately until it goes before the Wizengamot, it doesn't matter what he says. In fact, I'm sure that Albus could come back from the dead and proclaim my innocence, and they would still insist on holding a trial."

"This is insanity, Severus. I'm sure that we will be able to sort everything out."

_"We_ are not going to be doing anything Hermione," Severus snarled and he saw her pale visibly from his words. Bloody hell. This was going to be harder than he thought. _Why_ did she have to look at him with those big, tear-filled eyes?

"Why are you talking to me that way? Don't you want my help?" She tried to reach out to him with her hand but he backed away suddenly.

"Hermione," he said trying to control his voice and his emotions, "you are very young, hardly more than a child…"

"You certainly didn't seem to think I was a child last night," Hermione shot back at him. She should have known he would try to push her away.

"Damn it, Hermione!" Severus said, frustrated. "I'm trying to make this easy on you. You don't understand. Even if I were a free man, this still wouldn't be right. You are so young and your emotions, rather than your thoughts, control your actions. Hermione, you haven't even had a chance to mourn the loss of your friends yet. You haven't had a chance to deal with your captivity. Not to mention, we barely know each other; not really. It would never work right now."

Hermione felt tears rising to her eyes. She had thought that once the attack was over that they would be free to continue their relationship.

"Hermione," he said quietly as he sat on her bed, the malice now gone from his voice, "what about Mr. Weasley? Have you even had a chance to mourn him?"

_Ron,_ Hermione thought, images of their time together flooding her mind as she felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. How could she have forgotten him like that? It seemed that Severus knew her thoughts and he stroked her hair.

"Do not blame yourself," he said as she looked up at him. "You found yourself overwhelmed by the situation, and it is natural to turn to someone for comfort at such times."

Hermione felt the dampness of tears on her cheeks, but even as she did, she could recognize the truth in his words. She didn't really know him. She had been attracted to him for the protection that he had provided, not because of who he was. She wiped the tears off her face and looked up at him.

"I will still help get you out," she said.

"I'm glad I can provide you with a new cause to fight for," he said with a smirk, and he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Perhaps you can start reading up on wizarding law? I believe Hogwarts had an extensive section. Too bad it's probably destroyed now."

They shared a smile and she leaned against him, resting her forehead against his chest. They stayed that way for several minutes as Hermione thought about everything he had told her.

"What about Draco?" she asked suddenly looking back up at him. She saw his expression drop to a frown and she knew what he would say even before he opened his mouth.

"He is also going on trial for being a Death Eater. There are Aurors at Hogwarts waiting to take him into custody."

This launched Hermione into a new string of profanity that Severus could not help but admire, both for its creativity and accuracy. Finally she calmed down, but her eyes still blazed with fury.

"Someday, this will all be over with," Severus said when she had run out of insults for the Ministry officials, "and perhaps then we can reconsider things. I _am _very fond of you."

Hermione nodded and he rose to his feet. She felt her throat close up, and she was afraid she would not be able to speak. He leaned over her and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Good-bye, Hermione," he said.

"Good-bye, Severus," she whispered, and she watched him walk around the curtain to the Aurors she knew were waiting for him. She laid back on her bed, and after a minute Harry came around. Hermione could tell from the look on his face that Severus had been taken away.

"You all right?" he asked.

"No," she said honestly. "But I will be someday; and that is good enough for now."

* * *

_A/N: Ok, ok, don't kill me now. That WAS going to be the end... however... the idea was I was going to write a sequel and that sequel never happened. Therefore, instead, there is a three part epilogue (which is already written). So, no this is not the end. There are three more chapters to go. :-)_


	19. Epilogue part 1

_A/N: Thank you to RenitaLeandra and Keladry Lupin who have put in so much work into this story._

_Remember, this epilogue is in three parts. The next two parts will be up within the next few days._

* * *

Epilogue- Part 1

The whispers which had been filling the courtroom came to a halt as the Wizengamot returned to their seats. Already the trial had drawn more than its fair share of attention, just by the identities of the two prisoners who sat chained in the middle of the room. That didn't even take into account the identities of the people who had testified on their behalf.

Harry Potter, savior of the wizarding world, had created mammoth headlines, even by his standards, for his defense of Severus Snape. Hermione Granger had nearly caused riots when she defended both Snape and Draco Malfoy, as she told of her experiences as a prisoner at Riddle Manor. _The Daily Prophet_ had responded in the only way they could. They concluded that Harry had clearly been put under the Imperius Curse, and that Hermione was obviously in league with the Death Eaters.

Still, their testimony had been gripping, and each day the courtroom had been packed full. Those who were not lucky enough to witness the proceedings in person had waited with bated breath every evening for the owls that would deliver the extra editions of _The Daily Prophet_, which were dedicated solely to the Death Eater trials.

But finally, two months after the trial had begun and a full thirteen months since the former Death Eaters were first incarcerated, the Wizengamot had come to a verdict and the entire room was waiting silently to hear it. Most of the people gathered there had no personal stake in the proceedings and were waiting out of morbid curiosity and the desire to be a part of a historic event. But there were a few, mostly situated in the row closest to the prisoners, who waited with such tension and nervousness that it would appear it was their futures who were being decided.

Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Ginny, Arthur and Molly Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks, and Remus Lupin were referred to in _The Daily Prophet_ as the Death Eater Cheering Section, for they were the only ones who seemed to care about the fate of the prisoners. In fact, Tonks was the only family present. Severus Snape had no living family, and Draco Malfoy had very little family who was willing to claim him, or vice versa. His father was still rotting away in Azkaban, spending most of his time telling the walls of his cell what a disappointment his son was.Draco's mother, upon learning of the death of her dear sister Bellatrix and the imprisonment of her precious son, had lost what small shred of sanity she had remaining and was now spending her time in the closed ward of St. Mungo's.

In typical melodramatic fashion, the court had saved the best trial for last, although the prisoners themselves were not nearly as exciting as most in the courtroom had hoped they would be. Even with such famous names and the fact they were being tried at the same time, their behavior was generally nothing short of boring.

Draco Malfoy's charges were not so severe, but being the son of the formerly-revered and now-disgraced Lucius Malfoy was enough to cause headlines. People had shown up in droves to comment on how he must despise his tattered prisoner uniform and to snicker at his poorly-cut hair. It was to everyone's disappointment that he did not appear to be fazed by this and spent most of the trial staring straight ahead, without expression.

Severus Snape was another matter entirely. The trial of Albus Dumbledore's murderer would have caused headlines no matter what the circumstances. But the story told by the members of the Order of the Phoenix was so outrageous that it was the subject of gossip everywhere from the Ministry of Magic to Knockturn Alley. Snape had also provided a bit more of an interesting subject, as he had been teaching so long that many of the people present had either been former students or had children who were. Still, he did not seem nearly so fierce when deprived of his billowing robes and the ability to take house points. He did at least have a bad habit of losing his temper when provoked, which he had displayed on more than one memorable occasion.

Chief Warlock Everett, a very old wizard who leaned heavily on an elaborately-carved cane, rose and walked up to the podium. He was extremely short and could barely be seen, but his voice, in contrast to his body, was strong and even.

"We have reached a decision regarding the two prisoners who sit before us now," he said, staring down at the two men. He turned his head slightly giving his full attention first to the younger of the two. "Draco Malfoy, you have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and being a follower of You-Know-Who as one of his Death Eaters. We have carefully examined all the evidence and it is our determination that you are guilty."

He had barely even got the word out when the whispers flared up again, louder this time, and the Order members all looked at each other with worry in their eyes. Draco had not moved, but fear began to creep onto his face.

"However," Everett continued, raising his voice above the drone, "given your young age, the obvious influence you were under from your father and the contributions you made during the final battle, we have sentenced you to time served. You will continue to be monitored with tracking spells for the next six months."

Now the whispers were a dull roar. This was not something anyone had considered. All the other Death Eaters had been sentenced to a minimum of ten years in Azkaban. The Chief Warlock, however, appeared unconcerned by the commotion going on around him and the room quickly died down when everyone saw his attention had turned to the other prisoner.

"Severus Snape," he said and Severus bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement. "You have been charged with the murder of Albus Dumbledore and the use of Unforgivable Curses, as well as being a Death Eater. We have examined the evidence and we find you guilty with extenuating circumstances. It is clear that you did, indeed, use the _Avada Kedavra_ to murder Professor Dumbledore.However, the testimony given to us under Veritaserum and the memories that were provided to us have shown that this was because of a direct order from the headmaster. Therefore, you will be sentenced to six months of house arrest and, following that, a year of monitoring with tracking spells."

If it had appeared chaotic in the courtroom with Draco's sentencing, it was complete pandemonium now. People were shouting, some with obscenities, at both the Wizengamot and the prisoners. The doors to the courtroom had swung open as reporters rushed off to their offices to get the story reported as quickly as possible. The Wizengamot also began to file out of the courtroom. Even the prisoners' supporters rose to their feet, although more than one had slightly weak knees from relief.

The only people who had yet to move were the ones in the center of the room. Although the shackles had magically fallen off of them at the pronouncements of their sentences (an Auror was waiting to perform the necessary tracking spells), they had yet to rise to their feet. Finally, when most of the room had emptied, as if on cue, they both stood at the same time and looked over at each other.

"Well, sir," Draco began, "this has been an enlightening experience. The next time you need someone to stand trial with you from crimes against the wizarding population, be sure to let me know."

Severus could not bring himself to smile, but his eyes appeared lighter than they had been in months, perhaps years. Instead, he just nodded his head and turned away to where the Auror was waiting for him.

"You will be given twelve hours to reach your residence," the Auror said. He waved his wand several times, and Severus felt a tingling sensation. "We will, of course, be monitoring you to assure that you done as you have been told. Once you reach your home, you will not be allowed to leave. If an emergency arises which requires you to leave your property, you are to Floo-call Auror Headquarters and ask for me. If I decide to allow it, you will be escorted out by an Auror."

He handed Severus a piece of parchment that had his name: "Auror Geoffrey Robinson".

"Do you understand?" he asked.

Severus nodded as he folded the parchment and held it tightly in his hand. Auror Robinson turned away from him and began to perform his spells on Draco.

Severus turned to look at the people who had not yet left the courtroom. He could feel his heart lighten as he looked over at their faces. There was a time in his life that he was sure that he would die alone and friendless and most likely at the hand of the Dark Lord. Never would he guess that he would make it out of the war, not only alive, but with The-Boy-Who-Lived and his little entourage actually supporting him.

They had moved down off their bench so they were now level with him and he walked slowly over to them. Harry stepped out away from the rest and held out his hand. Severus reached out and shook it.

"I never thought I'd say this, sir, but I'm glad that you're not going to Azkaban," Harry said.

"Well, Potter," Severus said, managing a small smirk, "I never thought I'd say this, but thank you for everything you have done. Your efforts here have been… adequate."

There were snickers from the group of people around them, and Harry moved away only to be replaced by Remus. Then Tonks. And then the Weasleys. It seemed everyone had something to say, whether it was funny, kind or encouraging. Severus did his best to be polite, even attempting a smile once or twice, although he was sure the effect was more frightening than friendly.

Just when Molly Weasley had given one final pat to his cheek, which he used great restraint to keep from batting away, Draco came over to join them and the process started all over again. This time, however, Hermione was the first to greet him; throwing her arms around him in a hug. For a moment Draco seemed to be in shock from her reaction, but then he slowly put his arms around her to return the gesture. When she finally pulled away, she was wiping tears from her eyes. Severus forced down the wave of jealousy that threatened to crash over him. She had not yet even spoken to him.

"Honestly, Granger," Malfoy said with a grin, "I know you've wanted to do that for a while, but couldn't you have waited until we were alone?"

The entire group laughed, including Hermione, who also punched him in the arm.Severus felt the tightening in his chest lessen a degree. The rest of the group came forward with a comment or a pat on the back. Even Harry, who had had minimal involvement in Draco's defense, shook his hand and thanked him for the kindness he had shown Hermione during her time at Riddle Manor.

Finally, it appeared that the group was breaking apart. Molly and Arthur said they were heading back to the Burrow, and Draco indicated that he was anxious to get to Malfoy Manor and, as he put it, "assess the damage". Privately, Severus worried about what the state of the manor and the family's finances were.

Harry had invited everyone back to Grimmauld Place for a celebration and Remus, Tonks and Ginny looked eager to go. Draco suggested he would stop by in a while.

"What about you, Severus?" Remus asked, as he fastened his cloak around his thin frame. "Surely you have some time before you have to be at your house."

"I believe I will decline," Severus said. "I'm afraid that right now the idea of celebrating seems a bit foreign to me."

Remus gave him a sympathetic look that made Severus want to hex him, and the group bade him farewell. It was only when the last of their backs was turned that he realized Hermione was still there. It took no more than one look from him for her face to break into a shy smile.

"Hello, Severus."

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow; his question did not need to be spoken. She blushed a little and looked down at her feet.

"Do you need anyone to… uh… accompany you home?" she asked, looking up at him in the end.

"I don't believe I would be very good company," Severus said quietly. "Would you not prefer the celebration at Potter's house?"

Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "Not really. I don't feel much like celebrating either."

"Why not? You have devoted a year of your life to a cause and have been wildly successful in your endeavor."

"You can't honestly believe that," Hermione said, her eyes wide with disbelief. "I would hardly call house arrest and a year of tracking a success. You committed no crime!"

Severus could not help but smile. Only _she_ would be disappointed in his sentence. "Hermione, tomorrow when you get your edition of _The Daily Prophet_, you will understand what a remarkable thing you have done. My sentence will be talked about for months to come. If it wasn't for you and your… creative defenses, I would have been given life in Azkaban for sure."

"Well; it's wrong. You are a hero! When are people going to start recognizing that?"

Severus sighed and looked down at her. After everything, she was still as idealistic and passionate as she had been as a student.

"How is it that after everything you have witnessed over the past year, all the cruelty that you experienced, you can still ask that?"

Hermione blushed and looked away and he knew the thoughts that were going through her head. Although he had been the main target of the rage from the wizarding world during the trial, his defenders had received their fair share as well. Especially Hermione. Given Harry's hero status, which had been maintained despite the fact that he had not _actually_ been the one to kill Voldemort's body, it had only been a source of mild irritation. But Hermione had taken the vast majority of the criticism. As soon as it became public that she had spent more than a week in Riddle Manor and survived, all sorts of nasty rumors had been started. Severus had personally reacted very poorly when it was suggested during his trial that she had been his mistress. Not that it had been worded so politely at the time. Harry had even told him of one time when she was approached in Diagon Alley by a woman who spat on her and called her "that Death Eater Snape's whore".

Yet she had never once mentioned these incidents to Severus. Even when her robes began to get more and more shabby; when he could see the dark circles under her eyes and her face lined with worry. And here she was, after thirteen months of fighting for the freedom of two men that no one cared about, still outraged at the callousness of society.

"Well, I suppose none of it matters anymore, does it?" Hermione said, smoothly changing the subject away from such an upsetting topic. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to have someone accompany you? I don't like the idea of you spending your first free evening alone."

"I am quite sure," Severus said and Hermione was unable to hide her disappointment. "I am looking forward to being truly alone for the first time in over a year. Lucius's raving was sometimes a bit hard to take."

Hermione winced. She had visited Severus often enough in Azkaban when she was researching his defense and his unfortunate proximity to Draco's father was a bit unnerving. The man had come completely unglued when he discovered the roles Severus and Draco had played in the downfall of his master. He would often begin ranting about it during the wee hours of the morning, making sleep nearly impossible for those close to him.

"Very well, then," she said with a sigh. "I will leave you to your solitude. Don't get too used to it, though. I'll be by to visit you in a few days."

"I suppose if I haven't got rid of you by now, I never will," Severus said, not sounding nearly as put out as he liked to pretend.

Hermione just nodded with a smile and, before leaving, gave him a small, awkward hug. He hesitated a moment before putting his arms around her. He had meant to return the hug gently, but he couldn't help but tighten his arms, lowering his head until his lips just grazed her hair. After a moment she reluctantly pulled away and then turned to leave the courtroom. Before she could get out the door, however, Severus called after her.

"Hermione…"

"Yes?" she asked turning back around.

"Thank you."

Her smile grew wider, and she hesitated for a moment before turning back around and leaving the room.


	20. Epilogue part 2

_A/N: Thank you to RenitaLeandra and Keladry Lupin who save me from my mistakes!_

* * *

Epilogue Part 2

Hermione Apparated from the Ministry to just outside Hogwarts' property. It amazed her that even in its damaged state, many of the wards had still held. She looked around the bare grounds, strangely empty for this time of year. It still seemed unnatural that there were no students wandering around the grounds, no shouts from Quidditch practice being carried on the breeze. She sighed and made her way to the small cemetery next to the lake. She still walked with a limp, and the cold made the ache in her leg all the more pronounced, yet it did not slow her steady progress as she made her way to the two small rows of headstones. All the people who had died during the end of the war had been buried with Dumbledore; Ron,with Minerva McGonagall,had gotten a special place of honor next to the former Headmaster.

She paused momentarily next to Ron's grave. He was not the reason she had been driven to the cemetery on such a cold, blustery day, but she couldn't come without stopping there first. She carefully brushed away a couple dried leaves that had fallen on the headstone and wiped away a bit of grime from one of the corners.

Since the final battle, she had taken Severus's advice to heart and had visited Ron's grave many times. Once the threat of Voldemort had passed, she had finally found it in herself to grieve for the love she had lost. The first few times had been especially painful as she sat weeping and begging him for forgiveness, both for failing to save his life and also for her traitorous heart that had somehow temporarily forgotten him those few weeks before the final battle. She had sobbed out all her worries and fears in those visits;somehow, through voicing all her concerns, she had finally managed to let go of her guilt and find some peace.

Now, however, she only stood there for a moment, smiling to herself, before walking over to the imposing white tomb next to his. This was the real reason she was here.

"Hello, Professor," she said quietly. She had long since got over any embarrassment of speaking to a grave that would never be able to hear her. "I came to bring you some good news. I've been dreaming of telling you this for over a year, and now I finally can."

Hermione paused and took a deep breath, feeling tears prick her eyes. "Severus is free, sir. Or at least as free as he has been for the last twenty years. It's finally all over, and they let him go home."

She was sure it was her imagination, but it seemed that the wind was blowing a little bit warmer and she saw the sun suddenly peek through the clouds. She smiled. If anyone could influence the weather from beyond the grave, it was surely Dumbledore.

"I knew you would be glad, sir. I know that you have been waiting for this for a long time. I just wish you were here with us to celebrate; even if Severus's idea of celebrating is to spend an evening by himself." Hermione laughed quietly as if sharing a joke with the white tomb and, in a way, she supposed she was.

She stood in silence several more minutes and was just about to turn to go when she heard the distinct sound of footsteps behind her. She turned to see Aberforth Dumbledore standing several feet away, watching her and leaning heavily on a walking stick.

"Hello, Abe," she said walking over to him. She had only seen him a few times since the final battle, when he had testified at Severus's trial and a couple of times when he had sat in the audience, but she had never had the chance to speak to him then.

"Hello, girl," he said, his voice still sounding gruff from disuse. Hermione grinned as she was reminded of the first time they had ever met. She wasn't sure he had ever actually used her name. He nodded toward the tomb Hermione had just been standing in front of. "I come here sometimes. 'S a good place to clear my head. Albus always was a good listener."

His face seemed etched with sadness, and Hermione realized how rarely she considered all he had lost in the war as well. Just because she had never been aware of his relationship to Dumbledore didn't mean that it didn't exist. They were brothers, and it was obvious from the way he looked at the tomb that they had been fairly close.

"Yes," Hermione finally said, once again forcing tears back, "he was."

Aberforth took her arm and led her away from the small cemetery. "C'mon, girl. Let me get you a cup of tea. You must be chilled to the bone there."

Hermione didn't protest and allowed herself to be led the short distance between the Hogwarts cemetery and Hogsmeade and then into the dingy, dim light of the Hog's Head. Hermione had never been back in there since the first meeting of the D.A. back in her fifth year, but it might have only been a day for all that it had changed.

The room was empty, and Hermione wondered if Aberforth actually hired help or just allowed customers to rob him while he was gone. They walked to the bar and with a quick _Accio_, a surprisingly clean teapot and two cups landed on the bar. One more flick and the tea poured itself. Hermione didn't feel like pressing her luck by asking for sugar or milk and politely took a small sip from her cup. Although she had come to appreciate Aberforth, the reputation of the Hog's Head still made her nervous to accept anything served there.

After a few minutes of them sipping their tea in silence, Aberforth finally spoke. "So, you've just come from the trial," he said, more as a statement than a question. Hermione nodded her head.

"Yes. I wanted to tell Professor Dumbledore the good news."

Aberforth grunted and nodded his head. "He'd have been glad. Albus worried 'bout him. I don't think he was the only one, though." He gave Hermione a long knowing look that reminded her of his brother, and she couldn't help but blush.

"No," she said quietly and looking down into her cup, "he's not the only one to have worried about him." She paused for a moment before continuing. She felt the need to confide in someone, but wasn't sure if she should discuss her worries with Aberforth. "I'm not sure if he wants anyone to worry about him, though."

Aberforth gave her an approving smile. "Y'know, I've known Severus since he was a scrawny third-year. His type always find a way to my place. Timid little boy, he was. Came in here to escape a couple 'a fifth-years that were chasin' him. I let him hide out 'til they were gone and gave him something to drink. After that, he always stopped in for a butterbeer on Hogsmeade weekends. Well, 'til seventh year, that is. By then he was in pretty good with Avery and the Lestranges and he thought he was too important to take advice from the old bartender at the local inn."

This was the first anyone had ever spoken to Hermione about the younger Severus. Even he had avoided the subject when they had had long talks in his cell during the past year. Aberforth appeared to be lost in the past now and continued speaking.

"After he left Hogwarts, I didn't see him again 'til that night when that old bat Trelawney made her prophecy. Well, we all know what happened then. I was disappointed in the boy and told him so right before throwing him out on his arse. Thought we'd lost him to Voldemort forever, Albus and I did. Even after he made that Unbreakable Vow with Albus, I still had my doubts. I even warned Albus about him. I was afraid he'd find a way around the vow and betray the Order. But then the day after the Potters were killed, he showed up at Hogwarts. Albus said it looked like he hadn't slept or bathed in a week. Was real broken up over the whole deal."

"Why?" Hermione asked. "There was certainly no love lost between him and James."

"Dunno," Aberforth said, shrugging his shoulders. "He never said. Best Albus could figure, he felt bad 'bout Lily. They had got on pretty well in their early years at Hogwarts. Not hard to imagine; they were both pretty smart. Awful good at Potions too, according to Horace. They had a falling out 'round their fifth year when Lily got prefect. By the time she died, I don't figure they'd spoken in years. Still, I imagine Severus felt some guilt there. She was the only person outside of Slytherin that Albus ever saw him speak to. Said that Severus was a different person around her."

Hermione stared at Aberforth in shock. In all the time she had spent with Severus, he had never once mentioned his friendship with Lily Potter. When the subject of Harry's parents came up, he either made some snarling comment about James, changed the subject, or ignored it all together. Now everything seemed to make sense.

"He's a different person around you too," Aberforth said and Hermione looked up in surprise.

"I don't know what you mean," Hermione said with a dry laugh, trying to calm the frantic beating of her heart. "He acts the same around me as he does anyone."

"You didn't see him the day he brought you back from Riddle Manor. Kept checking you for injuries. Didn't want to leave you alone. I heard him bully that Bones girl into giving him regular updates on you, too."

"Oh…" Hermione sighed. That was before their discussion at St. Mungo's. "Well, things changed a bit after the final battle. We decided… Well, he said…. Things just got rather complicated."

"Hmph," Aberforth snorted before taking a long drink of tea. "I know better than that. I didn't just tell you all this for no reason. Like I said, I've known Severus a long time. And I spent some time at the trials. I saw the way he would look at you when you weren't paying attention; how he would get all worked up every time your name came up by the Wizengamot. I don't give a kneazle's tail what he told you, Severus Snape is in love with you, girl."

Hermione felt her heart give a sudden jump at Aberforth's words. She had hoped that perhaps once the trial was over Severus would reconsider their relationship, but in the past thirteen months, he had given no indication that he felt anything more than friendship towards her. She swallowed hard.

"Do you really think so?"

"Course I do," Aberforth chuckled. "Why else do you think I would have dragged my lazy old arse out into the cold today to collect you from the cemetery? I thought you might need to have some things explained to you. Severus doesn't just come out and say what he needs to, so you might have to give him a little push. I thought you might understand a bit better if you knew what he was like before all this mess. Poor boy never knew what real affection was, 'cept for Lily. I think Albus'd be real happy to see him get another chance."

Hermione rose from her chair and gave the old man an affectionate hug. "Well, I suppose I've taken enough of your time. Thank you for telling me all this, Abe. Maybe there is hope after all."

Aberforth returned her hug. "Ah, girl, there's always hope," he said, and she smiled before turning back to the door and leaving.

* * *

Severus woke suddenly the next morning, a feeling of unease sweeping over him as he gazed out across the dark room. For several moments he thought he had heard the sound of a cell door slamming shut and the shouts from prisoners down the hall. It was only once his heartbeat had returned to its normal rate and his eyes had adjusted to the dark, that he recognized where he was.

He lay back on his pillow and stared up at the ceiling, trying to remember what had woken him. The last thing he remembered was a nightmare where he was back at Riddle Manor. But this time it was he who was the prisoner, and Hermione and Draco were Death Eaters. When they had cast the Cruciatus, he had woken up.

As light slowly crept into the room, he finally rose and pulled on some clothes. As much as he had always hated his small, dingy home, it was luxurious compared to life in Azkaban. He didn't think he would ever take it for granted again.

The sun was just beginning to stream through the windows when he heard a knock at his door. He rolled his eyes and sighed. He supposed he should be amazed she had waited until the next day before checking on him. Even through his annoyance, though, he couldn't help but continue to feel amazed that this young woman would want to be _friends_ with him. Merlin, at one time she even wanted to be more than friends. It boggled the mind.

"Good morning, Hermione," he said as he opened the door to allow the young woman into the sitting room. She looked bright and vibrant, her cheeks were pink from the cold morning air and her bushy hair looked windblown. He privately thought how beautiful she looked before hastily pushing the thought away. It had been over a year since he had walked away from her tear-streaked face at St. Mungo's, and he had no reason to think she would ever consider him again, as much as he might wish it.

"It is a good morning, isn't it?" Hermione said brightly as her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the room. "Did you rest well last night?"

"As well as could be expected," Severus said before shrugging his shoulders and conceding, "a great deal better than I have in a long while."

"Good," Hermione said. She continued to stand in the sitting room for several minutes and the silence stretched uncomfortably. Nervously she turned to look at a couple of dusty knick-knacks on a nearby shelf.

Mentally,Severus berated himself as he tried desperately to think of something to say. Why was he _always_ so hopelessly awkward about these things?

"Would you care for something to drink?" he asked shifting on his feet like a nervous schoolboy.

"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Hermione said gratefully as she began to remove her cloak. "It's awfully cold out this morning."

Severus opened a hidden door behind a bookshelf that led into a cramped hallway. He motioned to Hermione and, after a moment's hesitation, she followed. The hallway was not very long, and at the end was a dark and confined kitchen, just barely large enough for the two of them to sit at a small, heavily-scarred table. She sat at the table while Severus poured tea into two large mugs and handed one to her before sitting down across from her. They sat in silence for a while, sipping their tea and each one wondering if they should be the one to start the conversation.

"So… ah… how was your evening?" Severus finally asked. Hermione looked at him with a strange glint in her eye.

"Quite good, actually," she said putting down her mug. "I went up to Hogwarts."

Severus raised his eyebrow in surprise. "And what were you doing around a decrepit old ruin such as that?"

"Oh, I wouldn't call Hogwarts a ruin yet," Hermione laughed. "I've heard that the Ministry is planning on rebuilding. From what I hear, Professor Flitwick has agreed to be Headmaster."

"Hmm… The students will eat him alive." Severus looked back up at her. "You still haven't answered my question."

"Oh… I was going to the cemetery."

Severus swallowed hard. Damn! The memory of the Weasley boy was always there. "I see," he said shortly. Hermione smiled and for a moment he wondered if she could read his mind.

"To visit Professor Dumbledore's tomb. I ran into Aberforth while I was there." She was now watching Severus very carefully. "We had an interesting conversation."

"Oh really?" Severus said noncommittally. Inside however, his stomach had begun to churn. Aberforth was as big a busybody as his brother had been and seemed just as committed to seeing Severus happy.

"Yes. About you."

"Hmph," Severus grumbled. "He should be minding his own bloody business."

Hermione just gave him a mysterious smile, but said nothing. After several moments, Severus couldn't stand it any longer.

"What… what did he have to say?" he finally asked.

Hermione took a long breath. The previous night she had lain awake wondering how she should bring this subject up, or if she should bring it up at all. Maybe she should just let Severus figure out his feelings on his own time. Maybe giving him a push was the wrong idea. But, then again, she wasn't sorted into Gryffindor for nothing. If she didn't have courage now, she never would.

"That if I want a relationship with you, I'm going to have to give you a push." Hermione managed to say the words looking straight at Severus. He held her gaze for a long moment before breaking it and returning to stare into his mug. Hermione tried desperately to calm both her heart and her breathing.

"Is that what you want?" Severus asked quietly.

"Yes." Hermione managed to get the word out even though her heart felt like it was lodged in her throat. For a moment, from the look on his face, she thought Severus was going to object and she rushed to interrupt him. "I know all the reasons you had after the final battle of why this would never work, but I've given this some thought, and I just don't think they are still valid."

This caught Severus by surprise. He hadn't expected her to sit and discuss her case as if she were arguing the finer points of Arithmancy theory. He suddenly found himself curious about what she was going to say. Leaning back in his chair, he motioned for her to continue.

"Please, do elaborate, Miss Granger," he said in an almost teasing tone, and she smirked at his formal words.

"Well, you said that we didn't know each other and, I'll grant you, that was true at the time. However, I have spent a large portion of the last thirteen months in your company and, if we don't know each other well now, we never will. You also told me that I needed to take some time to mourn and to heal. Well, I'll have you know that I have mourned until I was sick of it, quite frankly. I have visited the cemetery so much I'm surprised they haven't built me my own little bench out there. And I realize that I still have a limp and yes, there are some pretty nasty scars, but I'm as healed as I can be and I have come to terms with what I experienced at Riddle Manor."

"Have you really?" Severus asked, sounding somewhat skeptical. "Do you still have nightmares?"

"Do you?" Hermione shot back and then immediately regretted the words. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for."

Severus had felt momentarily annoyed at what he considered a childish response, before realizing the truth in what she said. "Yes, actually, I do still have nightmares. I suppose it was an unfair question on my part, as well. I did not mean to imply that you have not dealt with your trauma."

"Very well," Hermione nodded. "As I was saying, I believe the issues you raised at the time no longer exist, and I would like to know how you feel."

As soon as the words were out, Hermione wished she could take them back. What if he didn't feel the same way? What if Aberforth was wrong? She cringed at the idea that she may have just destroyed a friendship.

Severus rose slowly from his chair and moved his way around to where Hermione sat, kneeling down so he was level with her. Inside, his emotions and thoughts were a mess, and he was having a hard time keeping it all straight. He had purposely kept himself away from this train of thought, and now this had been sprung on him unexpectedly. In his heart, he knew what he wanted to say to her, but, even though she was now ready, he discovered that he was not… yet.

He reached up gently with one hand to brush her unruly hair away from her face and he saw the spark of hope in her eyes. He found his breath caught in his throat and closed his eyes for a moment to compose himself before he spoke. Slowly he reached around with his hand to the back of her neck, pulling her face close to him.

Hermione's heart stopped as his dark eyes were now impossibly close to hers and she was sure he was going to kiss her. Instead, however, at the last moment he shifted and she could feel his breath on her neck.

"Come back tomorrow," he whispered quietly in her ear and, before she had a chance to react, he rose, gave her a smirk, and walked out of the kitchen.


	21. Epilogue part 3

_A/N: Many thanks to my betas RenitaLeandra and Keladry Lupin for all their work on this fic. I hate to think what it would have been like without them._

_So, this is it! The last chapter! I hope everyone has enjoyed it!_

* * *

Part 3

When Severus left the kitchen, Hermione stared at the wall in shock for a long time before realizing that he was not coming back, and that he had been serious in his instructions. What had he meant by that? Why couldn't he just answer right away? She knew him too well to think that he would respond well if she went after him and insisted on an answer. Her only option was to do as he requested and return in the morning.

She spent the rest of the day back at Grimmauld Place, where she had been living given that she had been unable to find a job since the end of the war. Harry appreciated the company and had never so much as hinted about her moving out. She tried to spend the long hours locked up in her room, but Draco stopped by and she had been forced to be social.

They had a long talk; Draco had gone to Malfoy Manor and surveyed the damage, which was extensive and it seemed that the entire house had fallen into disrepair. Draco said even the interior had not been cleaned since his mother had been taken to St. Mungo's. It seemed that Narcissa's last order to the house elves had been not to touch anything, and she would be right back. The poor creatures had taken her literally and Draco had found their decomposing remains in the kitchen, exactly where she had left them. They had not even touched food to keep themselves alive.

When the subject had come around to Severus, Hermione tried her hardest to avoid his probing questions and knowing looks. She did not tell him about her conversation with Aberforth and her subsequent visit with Severus. Inside her stomach was still churning as to whether or not she had done the right thing, and she couldn't stand to hear what Draco might say. She knew that he could tell she was hiding something from him, but, to his credit, he said nothing about it.

Finally, as the afternoon grew into evening, Draco left, saying he still had a lot of work to do on his house. Hermione and Harry ate a silent and simple dinner in the kitchen before he left to go to the Burrow and visit Ginny. He requested that Hermione go with him, but she refused, saying she was tired and was planning to go to bed early. As he was on his way out the door, he paused and turned back.

"Don't worry, Hermione," he said and she looked at him with surprise.

"I'm not worried about anything," she lied.

"Right," he said laughing. "You know, you don't have to be a Legilimens to know what's on your mind. Snape would be an idiot to refuse you."

Hermione stared at him in dumbfounded silence, but Harry just laughed again, said good-bye and left.

Shaking her head in amazement and wondering when Harry had become so perceptive, Hermione climbed the steps up to her room and got ready for bed. She lay, staring at the ceiling for a long time wondering why Severus had told her to return the next day. Surely that was a good sign. If he wanted nothing to do with her romantically, he could have said as much right away instead of putting her through such torture. Finally, her mind began to calm and her thoughts turned more pleasant as she thought of the look on Severus's face right before he left the kitchen and the intense look he had given her. With that thought in her mind, she turned over and finally fell asleep.

* * *

Severus also did not get much sleep that night, although it was for a different reason. When Hermione had so bluntly stated her case, it was all he could do to not pull her to him and show her exactly how much he agreed with her. But he knew he had hurt and upset her that day at St. Mungo's, and he wanted time to plan his words carefully. To make it clear to her exactly what she meant to him. He refused to say he was in love with her; he wasn't entirely sure he knew what love was. But he knew that he felt something towards her that he had never felt toward anyone. Not even Lily Evans.

Lily. That was someone he usually avoided thinking about. He wondered if Aberforth had talked about her to Hermione. She had not mentioned it, yet if he knew the old man at all, he would have told Hermione all about their friendship. But that's all there had ever been with Lily. Just friendship, never anything more. This _thing_ that he had with Hermione, was something else entirely. Something he had never though himself capable of. And, for once in his life, he was going to get it right.

He wanted to give her a token, something to show her how important she was to him. He refused to look like some silly romantic fool, though. He would not give her flowers or jewelry or some other ridiculously clichéd gift. Instead, he spent a good portion of the afternoon and well into the night down in his lab in the basement. Luckily, his stores of potions had remained untouched and unharmed. He worked with the potions and charms until his gift to her was exactly as he wanted it to be and finally, a few hours before dawn, he collapsed into a heap in his tiny bedroom.

He woke a few hours later, before the sun had even had a chance to creep over the horizon, to the sound of an insistent knock on the door. Dragging himself off the bed, and running his hand through his unkempt hair, he went to answer it.

"I'm done waiting!" Hermione said as soon as the door was opened. She was standing on his doorstep and it was impossible to tell if the color on her cheeks was from cold or anger. Severus suspected the latter. She pushed her way through the opening and into his sitting room. "This is just cruel, Severus Snape, and I'm done with it. Either give me an answer or turn me away, but don't toy with me."

Severus was shocked. He knew she would be annoyed at his behavior from the day before, but he never guessed she would be angry. Hadn't she been able to tell what he felt for her? Did she really not know? She sat down with a huff onto an old armchair and looked up at him expectantly.

"You're angry with me," Severus said, still surprised.

"Well, of course I'm angry with you, you miserable git!" Hermione said glaring at him. "Do you know what I have put myself through the last day? You really are a sadistic bastard when you want to be, aren't you?"

Severus couldn't suppress the grin on his face. Hermione looked at it and raised her eyebrow.

"What?" she asked suspiciously.

"I am finding your little tirade to be amusing," Severus said sitting across from her. "Just how many years have you wanted to call me all those names?"

Hermione had the grace to blush. "Well… you have to admit that the way you used to torture poor Neville in class was a bit cruel. Do you remember the day you threatened to poison his toad?"

"Mmm… yes I do as a matter of fact. I also remember you cheating to save the stupid animal. Too bad. Had that toad died, I would have been a lot less nervous about Longbottom. Pets and volatile potions rarely mix. "

"Oh… I never thought about it that way," Hermione said, with the sudden realization dawning on her face.

"No, I daresay you didn't. But you were young and Longbottom was a friend. And in the interest of fairness, I will admit that the boy did not turn out to be as big of a dunderhead as I had feared." Severus looked across to Hermione. Her face had returned to its normal color and she was no longer fuming. He took a deep breath. He had put this off long enough with silly chit chat. "You are not here to discuss Longbottom or his toad, though, are you?"

Hermione shook her head. "No," she said softly as if she now would like to run back out the front door. Severus rose and walked toward one of the bookshelves where he had a small wooden box resting. He fingered it for a moment but did not pick it up.

"Before I give you an answer to your question, I have something else that I would like to do," he said and waited a moment before turning back around to look at her.

"All right," Hermione said, but her voice shook and she didn't sound all right. Severus cleared his throat.

"It has been over a year since I first put you in harm's way by taking you to Riddle Manor and allowing you to be tortured by Death Eaters, myself included," he began. Hermione opened her mouth to object, but he held up his hand in a request for silence. "Do not argue with me. It is the truth and we both know it. Several weeks after that, I made a promise to you. I promised to protect you. Of course, I failed dismally there as well, since you were nearly killed again by Bellatrix."

"Severus, you could not…" Hermione was once again cut off by a sharp look from Severus.

"I was standing right there, Hermione. I was standing right next to you when she stabbed you with that knife, and I did nothing to stop it." The self-recrimination in his voice was clear and Hermione desperately wanted to argue, but she knew he would have none of it. "Since that time, you have spent all your time working to free me, at your own personal cost. Do you think I haven't noticed the way people would whisper about you in the courtroom? Did you think I never would see a copy of _The Daily Prophet_? I _know_ what you have sacrificed for me."

"I did it gladly, Severus, and I would do it again if I were given the chance," said Hermione earnestly.

"I know," Severus grimaced. "You fool Gryffindors have courage in spades but lack a little in the self-preservation department."

He walked back over to the bookshelf and picked up the small box and brought it over to Hermione, holding it out to her. She took it carefully from him and opened it slowly. Nestled inside, resting on a piece of black velvet, was a small golden otter. She picked it up and held it in her hand. After staring at it for a moment she looked up at Severus questioningly.

"What is it?"

Severus cleared his throat nervously. "It is a Good Luck Charm."

Hermione quirked an eyebrow and smiled. "What? No rabbit's foot?"

"No," Severus laughed. "Not one of those silly Muggle things. This is a _real_ Good Luck Charm. I'm surprised you've never heard of them. The otter is protected by Shield Charms and has been dipped in Felix Felicis. Using your Patronus enhances the protective power of it. This will repel most hexes and jinxes and will also prevent most minor accidents. They are rather tricky to make since it usually takes someone skilled in both Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. You are very lucky, my dear, to know just such a person. And that my personal potion stores were still good."

"You have Felix Felicis?" Hermione asked in surprise; her interest in the otter temporarily forgotten.

"Of course. How else do you think I got away with being a spy for so long? It can't be taken frequently, unfortunately. But it did come in handy the day we escaped from Riddle Manor. And my hand might have slipped over Potter's pumpkin juice the morning of the final battle."

Hermione could not help the laugh that escaped from her mouth. "Severus Snape! You never fail to surprise me." She laughed for several more minutes before turning serious once again. "I don't understand, though. This is very kind, but what does any of this have to do with yesterday?"

"My point in all this is that I once made a promise to you; one which I took very seriously, and still do. And if I cannot live up to that promise, how can I ever hope to keep all the other promises I plan to make to you?"

Hermione's breath caught in her throat and Severus knelt down to her, taking her hands in his. "Do you really have no idea?" he asked quietly. "When I pushed you away all those times, Hermione, it was not because I didn't want you. Quite the opposite. I have been amazed by you since the day I first returned to the Order. But I kept believing there must be someone better. Someone kinder who would give you the life you deserve."

"I don't want anyone kinder," Hermione said as tears suddenly pricked her eyes, "and there is no one better for me."

Severus dropped her hands and cupped her face. "You are so very foolish," he said softly before pulling her head down toward his and gently kissing her. It felt like an eternity since their last kiss more than a year before, and as he deepened it, he felt her running her hands through his hair. He pulled back for a moment, breaking the contact. "But I don't seem to mind foolishness anymore," he said and she smiled.

Hermione also smiled and slid off her chair so she was kneeling in front of him. He gathered her in his arms, enjoying the feel of it finally after fantasizing about it for so long, and kissed her again. As they broke away, his face had once again turned serious.

"I will not make promises that I cannot keep," he said and she nodded her understanding. He thought very carefully how to word what he wanted to say. "I do not know if I can promise to give you my heart. I do not even understand what those words mean. I've never really loved anyone in my life, and I'm not sure where to begin. But I can promise to give you my mind…" He tipped her head to press a kiss to her forehead."My body…" he smirked as her face turned delightfully red. "And my soul." He said these last words against her lips and Hermione thought that her insides must have surely melted away.

She leaned into him, settling into his arms and he shifted position so he was now sitting on the floor. They sat in silence for a long while as the sun slowly rose outside and cast sunlight on the book-lined walls of the sitting room. Occasionally, Hermione would tip her face upward and Severus would lean down to kiss her and, sometimes, his arm would tighten reflexively around her as if reassuring himself that she was really there. Eventually Severus shifted uncomfortably when his legs began to ache and then they both stood, Hermione now facing him. Severus was looking very serious as he smoothed her hair away from her face.

"You know this will be very difficult for you. When the public discovers that we are in a romantic relationship they will think that they were right all along. I don't like to think about what you might have to face."

"I don't care what they have to say," said Hermione bravely and stubbornly. "They don't know anything unless _The Daily Prophet_ spells it out for them. My friends… our friends… they will understand."

Severus looked at her with admiration shinning in his dark eyes. "I didn't think you would care. Still, that is why I made that Good Luck Charm. Potter told me about that woman in Diagon Alley who spit on you."

Hermione made a low growl in her throat but Severus ignored it.

"I can't be with you every minute, as much as I would like to right now. But even if I'm not, it gives me peace of mind to know that you have some extra protection."

"Severus," Hermione said feeling both touched and exasperated, "I _can_ protect myself, you know."

"Yes, I'm aware of that. But you must allow me to do this."

"Very well," Hermione conceded.

Severus relaxed visibly as he leaned down for another kiss. "Good. Now, if you don't mind, I believe I have a year of stupidity to make up for."

With that, he suddenly reached down and swept Hermione off her feet. She gave a small startled scream which was quickly silenced by his mouth. When he was done, she found she didn't have any breath left at all. It wouldn't have mattered, though, as Severus carried her up the narrow staircase. For the first time in her life, she was speechless.

Which, they both decided a long while later, was a very good way to be.


End file.
